EXCLUSIVE: Get back to work! Boris Johnson will use his Tory party conference speech to urge Britons to return to the office – amid growing confidence Covid will NOT spark another lockdown this winter

• The PM will use his conference speech tomorrow to encourage a return to work
• It comes amid growing confidence that Covid will not spark further lockdowns
• Mr Johnson launched an ill-fated attempt to get staff back to their desks last year
• But it was wrecked by the emergence of the second wave of the coronavirus

Boris Johnson is to urge office workers to get back to their desks.

Amid growing confidence that Covid will not spark further lockdowns, the Prime Minister will use his Tory conference speech tomorrow to encourage a return to the workplace.

‘He believes very strongly in the value of face-to-face working,’ a senior source said. ‘It is critical for the training and development of young people. How can you learn a new job on Zoom?’

Meanwhile Home Secretary Priti Patel will today announce plans to hit eco-warriors with a new type of Asbo in an attempt to halt their motorway protests.

And Justice Secretary Dominic Raab will a unveil a deal to force criminals in ‘chain gangs’ to clear rubbish from waterways.

Mr Johnson launched an ill-fated attempt to get office staff back to their desks last year, which was wrecked by the emergence of the second wave of Covid.

Scientific advisers have pressed him not to repeat the exercise this year because working from home is one of the most effective ways of slowing the spread of the virus.

Instead the Government left it up to employers to encourage a ‘gradual return to the workplace’.

But a second Tory source said ministers were now hopeful they would not have to issue another work from home order this winter.

‘You can never rule anything out with Covid,’ the source said. ‘But we are now in early October and hospitalisations are still running at manageable levels.

‘We are not at the point of anyone thinking about Plan B.

‘Even if we get to that point, it would start with things that cause relatively little disruption, such as mandatory masks and Covid certification.’

Amid growing confidence that Covid will not spark further lockdowns, the Prime Minister will use his Tory conference speech tomorrow to encourage a return to the workplace

In other developments at the Tory conference:

• The number of offenders forced to wear electronic tags will double under a major initiative from Mr Raab;
• Rishi Sunak ruled out tax cuts until public finances were on a ‘sustainable footing’;
• Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries questioned whether the BBC would still exist in ten years’ time;
• Mr Johnson pledged that electricity will come entirely from green sources by 2035;
• Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng rejected calls for more visas for foreign workers;
• Pig farmers warned of ‘disaster’ as they protested outside the conference over a shortage of butchers;
• A party member was suspended after a businesswoman said she had been ‘violently assaulted’ in a bar;
• Sir Iain Duncan Smith was hit on the head with a traffic cone by Left-wing protesters chanting ‘Tory scum’;
• Michael Gove signalled a huge shift on planning policy.

‘He believes very strongly in the value of face-to-face working,’ a senior source said. ‘It is critical for the training and development of young people. How can you learn a new job on Zoom?’ Pictured: The Tube in London

Powers to reinstate the work from home order have been kept in reserve under contingency plans this winter.

But ministers believe that vaccines are holding back the virus despite relative high infection rates – 35,077 new cases were reported yesterday.

Insiders said Whitehall had seen only a slight increase in staff back at their desks with the Home Office apparently at 20 per cent and some other departments barely half that.

HM Treasury has advertised for staff saying they would be allowed to work from home in a hybrid pattern on a permanent basis, spending an average of two to three days a week in the office.

Rishi Sunak vows to ‘throw the kitchen sink’ at getting young people back into work after furlough as he unveils £500m help package

• Chancellor Rishi Sunak unveiled new £500million plan to help people find work
• Mr Sunak said the Government is ‘throwing the kitchen sink’ at helping people
• Comes after the £70billion furlough scheme finally finished amid job loss fears
• An estimated one million workers were still on furlough when the scheme ended 

by Jack Maidment, deputy political editor for MailOnline

Rishi Sunak today insisted the Government is ‘throwing the kitchen sink’ at helping people get a new job as he unveiled a £500million package to support furloughed workers.

The Chancellor said he warned at the start of the coronavirus pandemic that ‘it wasn’t going to be possible for me or quite frankly any chancellor to save every single person’s job’. 

He said the end of the £70billion furlough programme will result in some job losses. 

But he said people should be ‘reassured’ that ministers are doing everything they can to help the unemployed back into work. 

Furlough is credited with saving millions of jobs during the Covid-19 crisis but an estimated one million workers were still on the programme when it finally closed last week, sparking fears of a surge in unemployment.  

In his keynote speech to the Conservative Party conference in Manchester today, the Chancellor confirmed new funding to ‘prioritise’ job support for workers coming off furlough.

The £500million extension to the Government’s so-called ‘Plan for Jobs’ will also provide tailored packages for others hit by the pandemic, including the young and workers aged over 50.

Rishi Sunak today insisted the Government is ‘throwing the kitchen sink’ at helping people get a new job as he unveiled a new £500million package to help furloughed workers. The Chancellor is pictured alongside Boris Johnson in Manchester this morning

Mr Sunak said the end of the £70billion furlough programme would result in some job losses. But he said people should be ‘reassured’ that ministers are doing everything they can to help the unemployed back into work

Former minister Jake Berry accuses civil servants of ‘woke-ing from home’

A former minister accused civil servants of ‘woke-king from home’ today and demanded they be brought back to work in Whitehall full-time.

Jake Berry, who was Northern Powerhouse Minister for three years until quitting last year, made the remark at the Conservatives Party Conference in Manchester.

The 42-year-old Rossendale and Darwen MP was speaking at a fringe event run by the Taxpayers Alliance about saving the UK high street.

He is said to have told the audience: ‘We have to end the civil service ”woke-ing” from home – sorry I mean working from home, but let’s be honest, it often is woke-ing.’

His comments come amid a furious row over the rate of return of civil servants to their offices.

Mr Sunak was grilled this morning on the impact closing furlough will have on the unemployment rate. 

The Chancellor told Sky News: ‘I said right at the beginning of this crisis it wasn’t going to be possible for me or quite frankly any chancellor to save every single person’s job.

‘But what I do know is that the interventions we put in place have made an enormous difference.

‘As I said, at the beginning of this crisis people thought the unemployment rate would get to 12 per cent, that’s millions and millions of people out of work.

‘In fact the unemployment rate has now been falling for about six months in a row, it is under five per cent, we have a lower unemployment rate here in the UK than America, Canada, France, Spain, Italy amongst others and there are record numbers of job vacancies.

‘So I think the plan is working. Of course some people sadly have lost their job and will lose their job.

‘But that’s why I want them to be reassured that we are throwing literally the kitchen sink at helping them get a new job, new skills, new opportunities and we know that that’s been working over the past 12 to 18 months and that’s why we are doing more of it today.’

Mr Sunak last night declared he is ‘ready to double-down’ on his promise to ‘do whatever it takes’ to recover from Covid-19. 

He said the furlough scheme protected 11million jobs and the UK is ‘experiencing one of the strongest and fastest recoveries of any major economy in the world’.

He added: ‘But the job is not done yet and I want to make sure our economy is fit for the future, and that means providing the support and skills people need to get into work and get on in life.’

The Chancellor used his speech in Manchester to set out his vision of shaping the economy around ‘the forces of science, technology and imagination’.

He pledged to ‘make the United Kingdom the most exciting place on the planet’ through enhanced infrastructure, improved skills and scientific investment. 

Today’s jobs package will see those coming off furlough prioritised for jobs support during the next three months.

Measures will include mock interviews and help with writing CVs and applying for jobs.

During the pandemic, the £70billion furlough scheme is credited with saving millions of jobs

Under the measures, the Kickstart scheme helping young people on Universal Credit will be extended to next March. 

In its first five months, the scheme has found work placements for 76,900 young people. 

The £3,000 incentive for new apprentices will also be extended until the end of January.

Treasury sources said the over-50s have seen the second largest fall in employment during the pandemic and are ‘much less likely’ to return to the workplace than younger colleagues. They will also be offered tailored support to find a new job.

The Treasury said more than £500million of new funding will be used for the package, coming from the education plus the work and pensions departments.

Last night the Confederation of British Industry welcomed the package. Chief policy director Matthew Fell said: ‘Businesses are committed to playing their full part in training and re-skilling the workforce of tomorrow as we move towards a new economy.’

The announcement of the investment comes after the Chancellor pushed ahead with the end of furlough and a cut to Universal Credit.

A £20-a-week increase in the benefit introduced during the Covid crisis is due to finish on Wednesday.

Since the start of the pandemic, furlough has helped pay the wages of 11.6million workers at a cost of almost £70billion.

Mr Fell added: ‘Businesses will welcome the Chancellor’s plan for jobs pivoting from furlough to economic recovery.

An estimated one million workers were still on furlough when the programme closed last week

‘With record vacancies and widespread labour shortages, this package’s success will be measured by its ability to get people back into work.’

Labour’s work and pensions spokesman Jonathan Reynolds said last night: ‘The Government’s struggling Plan for Jobs has failed to hit its original targets; it is not creating the number of jobs needed and has failed to address the supply chain crisis Britain is experiencing.

‘Giving himself an extended deadline will do nothing to compensate for the Chancellor’s tax rises, cost of living crisis and cuts to universal credit which are set to hammer millions of working families.

‘Labour would create new jobs with our plan to buy, make and sell more in Britain to get our economy firing on all cylinders.’

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