IMAGINE being the head of a company that was losing productivity hand over fist ever since the pandemic. You’d surely jump into action at the earliest possibility, look at what had changed since then and address it swiftly. Rishi Sunak said that the civil service isn’t working at full steam Credit: AFP Endless studies have shown that staff working from home are less productive Credit: Getty But three years after the last lockdown ended, Rishi Sunak has come out and said that one organisation which isn’t working at full steam now is our civil service. He says if our civil servants were working as hard as they were before Covid, it would unlock £20billion of extra cash a year. I wouldn’t give a damn if it was private money being lost. But with public services, their downfall is our downfall. A lack of productivity within the public sector affects me — and you. If those lazy mandarins were working just five per cent harder, then you and I might just pay a bit less tax. Rishi says: “No one is asking anything heroic, it is just a return to where we were. “Obviously the private sector has managed that, so just a return to where we were is worth £20billion a year.” Jeez! Just think about that for a minute . . . £20billion every year. Imagine how many hospitals, schools and taxpayers could benefit. Three in four civil servants STILL working from home despite Rishi saying ‘Get back to the office’ Surely it is mind-bogglingly simple. Why on earth has it taken three long years for the penny to drop while the cash dwindles away? You don’t need a business degree to realise that the reason they’re not working at full steam is because they’re working from home. Endless studies have shown that staff working from home were less productive thanks to challenges relating to communications, coordination and self-motivation. And other studies have shown that civil servants want to be at home. One survey, by the recruitment firm Randstad, found they would actually like just two days in the office. I would be embarrassed to say that I work for the civil service. They are taking our money but not working hard enough for the people paying their wages. Ministers have already demanded that they get back to their desks, with no success. Isn’t it time they were told to make a full-time return to the office or face the boot? Because being civil about it just isn’t working. THE pizza chain Papa Johns has said it will close nearly a tenth of its
UK restaurants — all of which it says are “underperforming” and “no longer financially viable”. I am not surprised. The last time I went there for a medium pizza it cost me more than £20. That isn’t financially viable either. THE
BBC has quietly axed the hilarious
comedy Motherland as part of its plan to slash 100 hours of TV in a bid to save money. Surely it could have picked on something else. Diane Morgan as single mother Liz on Bafta wining show Motherland Credit: BBC The show is brilliant, and a Bafta winner, with decent ratings. The Beeb didn’t even have the guts to announce the news itself. It took Diane Morgan, who played single mother Liz in the show, to reveal it had come to an end during an interview. Presumably some dull, woke programme will replace it that fits with the BBC’s agenda. THIS week Katie Price has reached a new low. She boasted about taking Gareth Gates’s virginity when she was six months pregnant, tried to belittle Peter Andre by saying he was a “nobody” when she met him and then blamed her exes for her bankruptcy and pretty much everything else that went wrong in her life. Katie Price reached a new low this week Credit: Rex She says she only has therapy because of what they did to her. Maybe the best therapy would be to start taking some responsibility for her own mistakes. CAN the trolls please stop having a go at Kate Garraway? She spent every last penny caring for her late husband Derek Draper and has then done documentaries to try to explain to others the perils out there in the care system, to try to make change. Kate Garrawy spent every last penny caring for her late husband Derek Draper Credit: ITV You’ve got to ask: If you were in that situation, wouldn’t you even try to do the same thing and help others after battling to save your other half? If the answer is no, you’re probably not quite as caring – or amazing – a person as Kate is. AS well as revenge porn, bullying and mental health problems, our teenagers now have another battle on their hands – because sexually transmitted diseases are spreading through schools like wildfire. Gonorrhoea cases are at a 100-year high, syphilis is at its highest rate since 1948 and chlamydia cases have soared by a quarter. Gonorrhoea cases are at a 100-year high, syphilis is at its highest rate since 1948 and chlamydia cases have soared by a quarter Credit: Getty – Contributor A committee of MPs slammed the internet and a lack of sex education in schools for youngsters shunning condoms. MP Caroline Nokes said: “There is compelling evidence sex education in schools is inadequate, with nearly half of children saying they rely on information online. “This exposes them to an unacceptable risk of harm.” But you can’t blame our teachers for this. They don’t stand a chance against porn stars on the internet without condoms, or influencers on TikTok giving advice. However, there is nothing more cringeworthy than your parents talking to you about sex. So maybe this life lesson would be best coming from the school of Mum or Dad. HAPPY Easter – or maybe it would be more appropriate these days to call it Happy Gesture Day. A Cadbury store in Lincolnshire has been criticised by Christian campaigners after advertising Easter eggs as “gesture” eggs. Cadbury’s said it had “no involvement” in the promotion. But what they – and many other companies – are involved in is making chocolate eggs without the word Easter anywhere near them. I had my own egg hunt in Tesco last week and couldn’t find one chocolate egg bearing the word Easter. This festive season is now becoming as commercialised as
Christmas and
Halloween. I am sick of seeing wreaths, bunny candles and crackers throughout our supermarkets that don’t bear the word Easter either. I am not trying to be all holier than thou, but surely the whole point of this celebration is Easter. If companies are going to cash in, they should do the decent thing and use the word Easter before we all start to forget what it’s actually all about. CHILDREN being bullied at school is heart-breaking, but when it is adults who are doing the bullying it is an absolute disgrace. That is exactly what happened to pupils at Aboyne Primary School near Aberdeen when a Cornwall-based photography firm offered to remove disabled children and those with additional support needs from class photos. Natalie Pinnell, with daughter Erin, said her family are ‘devastated’ Credit: Family Collect Three children were removed from images sent via an internet link, giving parents the option to order a photo without them in it. It feels quite unbelievable that in this day and age someone could try to erase these children from a beautiful class photo surrounded by their
Friends. Natalie Pinnell, whose nine-year-old daughter Erin was one of the three kids omitted from the photo, said her family are “devastated”. I bet they are. The firm, Tempest Photography, has since apologised, saying in a statement it “regretted any upset” caused. But that will be of little comfort to Natalie – and to the rest of the class who should have been able to look back on that photo with wonderful memories, not tarnished ones. Natalie said the school, which has a dedicated additional needs hub, had vowed never to use the company again. I hope no school uses this company again. Publisher