to think some people would be weirdly excited if WFH came to an end?

I think a lot of people who moan about WFH (and support Reform in general) are the angry with the world types who just want to see others suffer so they can feel better about themselves. Its a lose-lose mentality. They want you to suffer (as they perceive they did - even if thats not objectively true) because it feels like a loss to them if you have something they perceive as better than they had. In a fair and kind society we would all see that progress makes things better for other people/ the next generation and be glad they dont have to suffer the same way we did. With these Reform types they want others to be worse off than them. It makes them gleeful 🙁

My mother bangs on about WFH even though she retired before Covid and ironically would be in a WFH job now if she was still in work. She HATED her commute, it literally stressed her out so much, yet she still wants to see a return to the office. This is despite the fact that all three of her children WFH full time. Apparently she wants us to have the same awful commute and work/life balance (or lack of) that she had. She would like to see us all as stressed as she was and her grandchildren in childcare longer. Its baffling.

My DS company has employees worldwide who WFH. HO is in Europe. They hire the best in a very niche field. He works from home only flying to HQ a few times a year.

Even if they do, they'll have no idea what to do, panic, go back on 90% of the nonsense they've promised and flail about saying they can't do it because of previous governments.

I won't forget Farage looking ashen-faced after the Brexit vote claiming a victory for UK independence then almost immediately saying he'd move to France if Brexit didn't go well and straight away distancing himself from the £350 million a week (he claimed it was even higher) back to the UK for the NHS pledge he'd campaigned for Brexit on saying 'not sure about that'

Then later said oops, that was wrong, should never have claimed that.

It's really easy to claim all sorts of shit to win votes, especially when you don't have to actually do it.

Unlike Trump, I don't think Farage actually wants to lead a government or expects it.

Trump is a personality, likely disordered, and now possibly demented, that desired that above all else. And will put in the hours - IN THE OFFICE lol.

Farage wants as easy a life as possible with as little work as possible. He's very happy to arse around with his rich friends, not doing very much at all and reaping in the rewards for no actual responsibility.

He'll shit a brick if he was voted into lead the country.

Yeah my work had an official policy of you need to have childcare if you are WFH (basically you can't be looking after a child and working). But in cases where a child was sick from school you could email and basically say either I can WFH or take the day off. WFH would always be preferred - it was an absolute godsend when I was completely overwhelmed with important work at the exact time my son came down with flu. Otherwise I would have had to let multiple people down.

This is the point I think they are missing and I said something similar on another post, it wouldn't just mean everyone went into the office, a good chunk of my team would need to reduce their hours, I also suspect sickness would go up as there are times you feel well enough to log on but not go into the office. I've also worked with a poorly child asleep next to me, when I would have to take parental leave.

My team has people in the south, central London, Scotland and Cornwall - they were recruited purely for their skills not location.

Exactly.

It's obvious that when some critics of wfh talk about it, they think the choice is between a remote worker or that same worker/one of the same pay and qualities doing the same job in person. It very much isn't! Lots of us simply would have no choice but to work less if remote weren't available. Personally I might even have to drop my hours so low I'd qualify for Carers Allowance.

Completely agree OP and I cant understand why he is taking such an interest in it and how would it even be enforced?

If they really wanted to encourage people back into the office more reliable, affordable public transport would be a start, why would someone pay thousands a year to commute on an unreliable train when they can WFH? Even when my town had a local office (as opposed to me commuting the 1-2 hours into London) parking in the centre cost £600 a year

I'm a grown up and can be trusted to do my job without someone watching my screen 🙄I think its very telling that some people cant comprehend that....

Oh i love that book….its absolutely epic!

For someone who bangs on about red tape and bureaucracy it seems really hypocritical to be advocating for a big government approach that would dictate the terms of individual workers employment.

It's almost like his beliefs and policies are not held in goodfaith and he's really just trying to harness meaningless culture war anger

If the child is a school refuser then of course a parent is going to need to stay home with them, so those statistics would be nonsensical. You’re making some massive leaps there without any data to back it up.

Yes, there's probably some truth to this. I've come across people, of a wide variety of ages actually, who've blocked out the 2010s reduction of in person services because they were being delivered remotely by people who were usually in the same room as each other.

I do think some people might benefit from knowing how much more they'd have to pay if they wanted more in person or even just in office services. Then preferences can be an informed decision. In most online discussion, I've noticed it doesn't usually go down well when people are asked how much more they'd be willing to pay in order to secure more in person customer service and the like. Maybe there'd be general benefit to a greater understanding of this.

My workplace is completely virtual- there’s no office to go to. And that won’t change no matter what Nige or the anti-wfh nutters on MN want

the government can only mandate where government employees go to work.

That debate is also viewable on YouTube.

E-petition debate relating to Russian influence on UK politics & democracy - Monday 9 February 2026.
https://www.youtube.com/live/BXlk5ufZTDM

Might not be just the Epstein files he's trying to distract from.

There was a VERY interesting parliamentary committee session on Monday responding to "e-petition 744215 relating to Russian influence on UK politics and democracy."

It's regarding Reform.

I knew about former Reform leader for Wales, Nathan Gill, being convicted for treachery on behalf of Russia. I didn't know about all the other links, especially the financial ones and Reform's enthusiasm for untraceable donations.

Full transcript here:
https://hansard.parliament.uk/Commons/2026-02-09/debates/F9F28AFA-E1F3-449C-B18B-63DDCABC411E/RussianInfluenceOnUKPoliticsAndDemocracy

I love this for him.

My neighbours have a house in France and were holidaying there during the referendum. They didn’t arrange for absentee ballots, and missed the election/didn’t vote. They were counting on the rest of us to have their best interests at heart.

The best one by far was a market stall florist who was interviewed on the BBC. He gets his stock from Holland, and was upset about the difficulties he was now facing. He voted for Brexit.

all my local councils have sold off their office spaces. They are already going bankrupt so not sure how that will work out.

People really do make up the most silly stories.

What a weird comment 'try to contact someone through customer services 9am or 3pm'

What customer services? There's no national or international 'customer services'. There's customer services for numerous organisations and companies so which ones are you talking about?

And are you talking about an NHS organisation where you missed an important procedure? because you couldn't hear because dogs were barking? it's very rare NHS admin are calling from home to arrange an appt but if they are, they also send texts, emails. letters..how did you miss those?

And if you really felt you couldn't hear a word and didn't receive any texts, emails or letters. why didn't you call the dept and say that?

Some people have a race to the bottom mentality and if they see somethng as a benefit they dont have they are quick to crow when it goes or are vocal while it remains. I can't wfh in my job but never begrudge those who do.

Its like when funded nursery hours came in for more people when their child was younger and those who had unfortunately had to pay for private nursery til age 3 prior to the new way were furious that people benefited from new rules when they'd had to pay. Race to the bottom mentality is rife.

My DH's company is now like this. There is not enough physical space to accommodate everyone as many people are on hybrid or fully remote contracts and there are more staff than spaces in the office for them.

Like most of the things Nigel Farage says I suspect it is just a lot of hot air. He can't dictate how a business operates at the end of the day, especially in the private sector.

I've no skin in the game re working from home
But personally if it takes more cars of the roads ,that's got to be a good thing .

Your assuming a reform government next ..
If labour get their finger out and crack down ,that may not happen.
It's only reform saying this rubbish,and they are not in government yet , hopefully not at all

Nigel is definitely not trying to detract from the fact he has been found in the 3pstien files. Nothing to see. Move along.

Any Government’s priority should be getting people working to manage the benefits bill. Not dictating how taxpayers and their employers structure their working arrangements - particularly not private sector employers.

I just cannot see how they can justify concerning themselves with this given the economic difficulties facing the country. Taxpayers are a scarce resource.

People just really hate other people getting something they don't or something that makes them a bit happier. Jane sitting in her cubicle doesn't give a shit about the sandwich shop over the road, she just feart of missing out.

WFH meant I could increase my hours which means I have more money to spend, as a pleb who doesn't have enough to hoard. That money goes right back into the economy. Without WFH I would still be working restricted hours on less money - if I had been able to keep working at all. So forcing me back into an office doesn't benefit the sandwich shop over the road anyway.