Western Daily Press (Saturday)
West MP urges public to stop pillorying motorists
JACOB Rees-Mogg has urged people to stop making motorists’ lives harder as he says there ‘is not going to be public transport’ into Bristol from rural areas of the West.
The North East Somerset MP stuck up for drivers on a visit to Bristol’s HMRC centre yesterday, where he announced new jobs amid a push to make Bristol a ‘hub’ for the civil services.
Mr Rees-Mogg announced an increase of 800 civil service jobs at the Bristol centre, 200 of which he says have already been filled.
The move is part of the Government’s ‘Places for Growth’ programme, which will see 22,000 jobs moved out of London by 2030.
When questioned about whether the new jobs would be supported by improved public transport, the newly appointed Minister for Government Efficiency said: “A significant amount of money already goes to the Mayor of Bristol and the West of England Mayor and they have a responsibility between them for transport.
“...My general view is that I wish people would stop pillaring the motorist. My constituents in North East Somerset are almost all motorists and at every turn people seem to be trying to make their life harder and I feel strongly against that.
“If you’re living in a rural area there is not going to be public transport to get you into Bristol. I represent a rural area that is relatively sparsely populated and people need their cars.”
Mr Rees-Mogg’s comments on public transport come as the minister has been carrying out spot checks on government office buildings to ensure more civil servants than claimed by their bosses are not working from home.
He said: “We are now living with Covid and people have been vaccinated. It is safe to be back at work and that’s an important message to get across.”
In a letter to Cabinet ministers, Mr Rees-Mogg said they needed to issue a “clear message” to their departments that with the end of Covid restrictions in England, officials should be back in the office. Unions
have reacted with anger to the move, which has been branded “vindictive” by Dave Penman, the general secretary of the FDA representing senior civil servants.
He continued: “I am still constantly writing to DVLA on behalf of my constituents to get them driving licenses and we know that the DVLA was simply not working properly with people working from home. That’s very unfair on my constituents. It’s absolutely ridiculous that to get a driving license you need to contact an MP.
“But I am getting letter after letter from people saying they would like a driving license, and once again nothing has happened.
“In an office you get all sorts of benefits. You get the informal conversations, you get the learning of the junior staff and senior staff.
“Also from the point of view of younger people, it’s providing them with a proper working environment, particularly for those in shared accommodation who have beenw working in their bedrooms for an extended period. That isn’t comfortable or well-thought-through as a work environment.
“I think it’s good for people themselves and it’s good for government efficiency.
“That is not to say there aren’t some jobs that can’t be done extremely well from home, and that’s absolutely fine, and that’s not to say there aren’t occasions where working from home may be suitable and beneficial for people, but as a general rule, the Government is more efficient with people in office.”