With the pandemic over, ministers have been making plenty of moves to get the country back to pre-pandemic normal, not least seeing workers return to the office to kickstart the economy. The powers that be in Whitehall however are determined to enforce one rule for ordinary officer workers and another for their own mandarins. An email sent to Department for Transport staff reveals they will still only have to come in to the office 2-3 days a week from September. Presumably travelling is too taxing for transport policymakers…

If you think that lacks ambition, Guido hears return plans are even more sluggish elsewhere in SW1. Guido understands that HMRC, which shares a building with the back-to-work pusher-in-chief Rishi Sunak, is merely aiming for staff to return for one day per week by the end of September, with the goal of “working up to” two of days a week in the office by December. This is on top of DEFRA which Guido revealed last week to still be boasting work-from-home options on job adverts. If ministers are briefing The Mail that workers should return to the office or see their pay slashed, those not on the public purse will rightly be asking why there’s one rule for them, and another for civil servants.