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Nigel Farage calls for an end to working from home

716 replies

sally037 · 10/02/2026 10:06

Nigel Farage has doubled down on his attack on remote and hybrid working, calling it “a load of nonsense” and saying people are only productive when working face-to-face in the office. He argues we need an “attitudinal change to hard work” rather than focusing on work-life balance.

AIBU for thinking this idea is just bonkers and totally at odds with how most of the workforce actually wants to work now?

I can only think it appeals to the "pull the ladder up" generation. Don't give two fucks about anyone else as long as they are comfortable or those that are unable to wfh and want everyone else to be as miserable as them.

OP posts:
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itsnotagameshow · 10/02/2026 14:15

I was interested to learn how PwC are hiring people in e.g. the Hebrides as fully remote workers (some senior) and how this has the knock on effect of supporting small remote communities (the staff members obviously spend locally ) as well as reducing the business travel carbon footprint overall.

There are similarities in bits of Europe too - areas of Spain considered 'Espana vacia - empty Spain' are attracting digital workers who can WFH to repopulate these areas, often in beautiful but very remote places.

MeouwKing · 10/02/2026 14:17

I wonder how many work from homers are watching the curling. It's nail-biting stuff.

picubed · 10/02/2026 14:19

The mans a twat. Not working from home but going to put the curling on now!

FluentOP · 10/02/2026 14:19

Farage is an abhorrent individual who only cares about himself and his billionaire friends. I agree that his fan base seems to be older people. I am nearly 70 and I would never vote for this mini-trump. Younger people can sometimes be a bit nonchalant about voting and not bother. Please use your vote and make sure Reform don’t win !!

ErrolTheDragon · 10/02/2026 14:19

Wonderfulstuff · 10/02/2026 14:07

It's just a whistle call to all the retired folk who didn't have the luxury in their day... you know the super bright aged Tory types who voted in Liz Truss and crashed the economy.

Well, I’ve just turned 65 and retired, after WFH since 1995 plus a couple of years around 1990. It’s not such a newfangled phenomenon as Farage and his mob may imagine! I’m delighted that more people now have some flexibility - it’s particularly useful for those with caring responsibilities, and reduces traffic and the sheer bloody waste of time and resources spent on commuting.

XDownwiththissortofthingX · 10/02/2026 14:20

CaragianettE · 10/02/2026 14:08

It's also the case that many people have no desire to interact and socialise with colleagues in the first place, because they are just that, colleagues, and not people you would have necessarily opted to form a relationship with otherwise.

I'm sympathetic in the sense that I've done office jobs that included at least a couple of colleagues that made my skin crawl. But I think the question of whether you would choose to hang out with someone socially for pleasure is separate to whether, in a general way, it's beneficial for people working together professionally in a team to meet in person. We all know those meetings aren't always a pleasure, but I also know some of the work conversations that have been most crucial to my progress haven't been in a formal Teams meeting, it's something said in passing while you're having a coffee or whatever that opens up an idea or a professional opportunity that you weren't even aware existed. It's not something I would have chatted about by other means because it wasn't on my radar, it's a chance conversation. Maybe it depends what sector you work in, but for me there's definitely something that gets lost when you're not having those conversations.

"team" working, then yes, I can understand the benefit of having some sort of face-to-face interaction from time to time.

In my own role there are three of us doing pretty much the same thing. Our jobs are not inter-dependent, we don't share work, we don't pool our time to ever tackle anything as more than one individual. There is really no need for us to ever interact with each other, but still we did share an office space at one point simply because it was convenient for the organisation to have us located in the same place. One of these colleagues I personally find objectionable, because they have a ridiculously defensive manner and they are obsessed with protecting what they see as their own hegemony, this despite the fact that nobody ever attempts to intrude upon what they are doing in the first place.

My work time is far more pleasant and enjoyable for not having to put up with them being constantly miserable and obnoxious, because there was always a distinct atmosphere around the office when they were present, even if it wasn't quite to the extent that it constituted something senior management should have been addressing. The simple fact I just no longer have to entertain a colleague I find difficult means my enjoyment of my work and my motivation is improved, and there is no detriment to the job at hand because our jobs were not intertwined in the first place. Still had to share a room with the tit though.

SerendipityJane · 10/02/2026 14:20

Igmum · 10/02/2026 14:08

I suspect he also wants to appeal to people with jobs that must be done in person, who cannot WFH. A great deal of his appeal is motivated by jealousy of others and this hits that button.

Russian assets have to meed in person, I believe. Park benches nowhere near Clacton.

YourDearPearlWasp · 10/02/2026 14:21

CaragianettE · 10/02/2026 13:49

Well based on another thread running on AIBU at the moment, using the phone to talk to people does seem to be a genuine anxiety of a surprisingly large number of mumsnetters...

It's strange to me in some ways that the right don't like WFH. From a boss perspective, you're transferring quite a lot of costs in terms of rent and electricity to your employees. And presumably freeing yourself from associated bureaucracy. Cutting free the red tape!

This is one of the areas where 'mental health' is misused.

Anxiety is totally normal, it's the bodys way of managing situations where we are at risk.

What's happened is that anxiety has become a concept where the feeling of anxiety means it's something we shouldn't do or challenge because 'mental health'.

So many people are using 'anxiety' as a reason not to do something because it makes them feel uncomfortable, nervous or 'anxious'

Which is very different to someone meeting criteria for an actual mental illness of a specific anxiety disorder.

Social interaction including speaking on the 'phone to unfamilar people, crowds, queues, public speaking, meeting new people, taking tests or exams are all things that commonly cause anxiety.

But most of the time, people can do those things but it causes them to feel uncomfortable or experience low-level distress.

Which has become a reason not to do it because the person can say it makes me 'have anxiety'.

Which perpetuates the problem because people increasingly restrict their behaviours and aren't challenged because people think anxiety-mental health.

Which can then result in actual anxiety disorders.

But the problem is that for a few years, 'anxiety' was treated as a mental illness and not normal which gets worse the more people avoid things they find make them feel 'anxious'

Wolmando · 10/02/2026 14:22

itsnotagameshow · 10/02/2026 14:15

I was interested to learn how PwC are hiring people in e.g. the Hebrides as fully remote workers (some senior) and how this has the knock on effect of supporting small remote communities (the staff members obviously spend locally ) as well as reducing the business travel carbon footprint overall.

There are similarities in bits of Europe too - areas of Spain considered 'Espana vacia - empty Spain' are attracting digital workers who can WFH to repopulate these areas, often in beautiful but very remote places.

They are private sector though aren't they, it will be the ones funded by taxpayers he is on about. Though the way the present government is going it will have killed off most of the private sector by the time Farage might get in.

Lifeomars · 10/02/2026 14:23

XDownwiththissortofthingX · 10/02/2026 14:08

He's very much judging others by his own absentee, lazy, dodgy standards, as evidenced by his time in the European Parliament and never putting in an appearance in Clacton

He still refuses to hold in-person constituency surgeries, which he puts down to to being advised to over concerns about personal safety, a claim dismissed as rubbish by the Speaker's Office. He does hold the odd surgery via Teams or telephone call, so someone really needs to ask him where he is physically located during these, and if it's not his constituency office...

Edited

Imagine having Nige as your MP and expecting him to actually care about what is going on in Clacton, then finally you get to speak to him via a video call (a bit like WFH, oh the irony!) and you realise he doesn't give a flying fuck about you. I don't know what Clacton is like other than from what I have seen in the media but I am in the East Midlands so know Skegness which now has Tice as their MP. So here we have two multi millionaires both representing run down poor sea side towns. I will give Reform credit for being able to pick their targets well

XDownwiththissortofthingX · 10/02/2026 14:24

@YourDearPearlWasp

You clearly understand nothing about the fundamental difference between temporary anxiety induced by a stressful situation, and a perpetual anxiety-related mental health condition.

The two are not one and the same thing.

SerendipityJane · 10/02/2026 14:24

Imagine having Nige as your MP

Which does remind us that he was voted in. Admittedly it took 8 attempts. What that says of the good subjects of Clacton I don't know.

MifsBr0wn · 10/02/2026 14:24

I think he means the public sector. Clearly a commercial business is free to manage it's own policy on WFH.

itsnotagameshow · 10/02/2026 14:25

Wolmando · 10/02/2026 14:22

They are private sector though aren't they, it will be the ones funded by taxpayers he is on about. Though the way the present government is going it will have killed off most of the private sector by the time Farage might get in.

They are, but surely performance management and looking at how WFH affects the business is a part of any organisation's operations, whether private or public sector. If there is a problem with anyone WFH then management needs to step up rather than there being some blanket edict about everyone coming into the office. I've seen some Olympic-level skiving in offices - being physically present doesn't mean you are suddenly super productive.

KeepOffTheQuinoa · 10/02/2026 14:25

itsnotagameshow · 10/02/2026 14:15

I was interested to learn how PwC are hiring people in e.g. the Hebrides as fully remote workers (some senior) and how this has the knock on effect of supporting small remote communities (the staff members obviously spend locally ) as well as reducing the business travel carbon footprint overall.

There are similarities in bits of Europe too - areas of Spain considered 'Espana vacia - empty Spain' are attracting digital workers who can WFH to repopulate these areas, often in beautiful but very remote places.

Interesting.

But Spain had a huge excess housing stock.

And the UK has the much publicised issue of people moving to desirable coastal / rural areas for their remote working lives, pricing out locals.

It’s even becoming a problem in cities like Lisbon and Porto with UK digital nomads undermining the economy.

IF WFH revitalises communities across the former Notts / Derbys coalfields fantastic but I am seeing people heading to Devon rather than Mansfield.

Tabitha005 · 10/02/2026 14:28

I work for a Reform run local authority and there's no way there'd be anywhere near enough office space across all the buildings that are left in the council's ownership to house everyone ordered to return to full-time office working. There's quite often NO space available for my Team when we try to book desks for regular in-office days as it is.

Nigel is, as usual, spouting absolute bollocks and his fawning band of 'I didn't get where I am today-ers...' are just doing their usual toadying up to a man whose ONLY interest is making millions for his private equity, corporate landlord chums off the back of taxpayers.

I'm amazed that SO many people seem quite content for private companies to hoover up taxpayer money that SHOULD be going to support and develop critical public services - whether they're supporters of Reform, Labour, Tory or another other political party. It absolutely baffles me when people are SO shruggy of shoulder about the massive profits being funnelled out of public services and into the private purse.

Why are we not rioting in the streets over it?

MsJinks · 10/02/2026 14:30

In my experience those who skive at home do so even more in the office, as they have more ‘reasons’ and at the desk they then ‘look like’ they may be working.
Managers know who these people are and then manage it - and I don’t know any role where output isn’t monitored/ at least noticed - not sure how someone doing nowt can be missed tbh in any role. Wfh gives less options to do ‘busy appearing work’ IME actually.

itsnotagameshow · 10/02/2026 14:30

KeepOffTheQuinoa · 10/02/2026 14:25

Interesting.

But Spain had a huge excess housing stock.

And the UK has the much publicised issue of people moving to desirable coastal / rural areas for their remote working lives, pricing out locals.

It’s even becoming a problem in cities like Lisbon and Porto with UK digital nomads undermining the economy.

IF WFH revitalises communities across the former Notts / Derbys coalfields fantastic but I am seeing people heading to Devon rather than Mansfield.

Barcelona rents are an issue apparently with international digital nomads bringing their home country salaries to the city and those on local wages being priced out. Spain's excess housing stock is a bit of a red herring as some empty homes are far from jobs, services and transport (hence the WFH movers being interesting) and there is an acute housing shortage in economic hubs. So WFH in remote areas both helps revitalise those communities and takes the pressure off the saturated places a bit. If only the Notts/ Derby coalfields were as picturesque!

Ifeeltheneedtheneedforcoffee · 10/02/2026 14:33

DeftGoldHedgehog · 10/02/2026 10:44

Exactly.

I look forward to all the future Reform government spending on the civil service and local authority estate so that pubic sector workers actually have an actual desk to go to. I'm not holding my breath.

I (sadly) work for a reform led council.
Lots of blustering about getting people in the office
Except... they appear to have forgotten most of the buildings had to be sold to balance the budget so if everyone stopped working from home there would not be enough room
Never mind the fact some people have completely forgotten office manners and dont actually do any work and stop anyone else doing any either! And most of our meetings with external people are on teams

Whatwerewetalkingabout · 10/02/2026 14:33

His paymasters with property portfolios have snapped their fingers... How many Clacton surgeries has he done in person "at the office" again? Tosspot.

safetyfreak · 10/02/2026 14:35

Ifeeltheneedtheneedforcoffee · 10/02/2026 14:33

I (sadly) work for a reform led council.
Lots of blustering about getting people in the office
Except... they appear to have forgotten most of the buildings had to be sold to balance the budget so if everyone stopped working from home there would not be enough room
Never mind the fact some people have completely forgotten office manners and dont actually do any work and stop anyone else doing any either! And most of our meetings with external people are on teams

Yes, in my council, they sold off buildings, and there are not enough desks for everyone. We can do our jobs effectively by a hybrid working model.

When I am in the office, people just tend to talk to each other rather than work!

DisplayPurposesOnly · 10/02/2026 14:36

Nigel Farage has always been a self-serving wanker

ChocolateCinderToffee · 10/02/2026 14:39

Farage can arse off. I doubt he's ever done a hand's turn of real work in his life.

Gonnagetgoingreturnsagain · 10/02/2026 14:40

Inforgotten · 10/02/2026 10:50

I don’t care what Farage thinks but companies are pushing for more people to go back to the office and they are not doing it because they are dinosaurs, they are doing it because productivity is down.

I strongly believe in hybrid working but that doesn’t mean wfh all the time unless it’s what the company wants

Productivity is mostly down because you get a few bad apples who take the piss when wfh and don’t put in the hours. When I wfh during Covid I often worked past my end time and sometimes through lunch. I certainly didn’t skive.

BotterMon · 10/02/2026 14:40

Good. Hopefully it will stop all the pro-Reform idiots voting for him!

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