Mandarins told: Use your office or lose it

JACOB REES-MOGG put his words into swift action during a meeting in his Whitehall office this month.

During the meeting, the Minister was told that the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) – the Government department which investigates and prosecutes complex corruption cases – was within days of being ‘homeless’, because the lease on its offices in the Canadian High Commission had expired. ‘Lets take a look at them,’ said Mr Rees-Mogg, heading out of the office and turning left for the short walk to the building on Trafalgar Square. Inside, he was greeted with rows of deserted desks, some of which did not appear to have been occupied for more than two years – since before the start of the pandemic.

‘There is no need for such expensive offices if no-one is here,’ he said, ruling that the lease should not be renewed.

A Government source said: ‘You can expect more decisions like this. Use it or lose it.’