Entrepreneur John Caudwell has condemned the pandemic-induced work-from-home culture as “a catastrophe for the British economy” and an “epidemic of inefficiency sweeping the country” as he demands in the Mail that civil servants get back to their desks.
Up and down the country, large parts of life are not functioning as they should, causing enormous frustration as we carry out our daily tasks.
From delays of as much of three months for renewing a passport or driving licence to finding it impossible to speak to a human to pay a bill or make a complaint, the pandemic has left a trail of destruction that Britain is still reeling from.
And I’m sorry to say, this situation seems to suits some people rather well.
Part of the problem is the continuing trend for working from home, which some see as an absolute windfall that allows them to walk the dog, have a long lunch, look after the children and still collect full pay.
But there is something else, too: a growing sense of entitlement on the part of workers who believe that jobs exist for their own convenience rather than to serve customers or the public.
And it is the civil service who particularly benefit from this privilege of convenience.
Whitehall workers enjoy job security and generous pensions – and all for hours that allow them to clock off at five o’clock.
But while customers can hold private companies to account for sloppy service by simply going elsewhere, they have no such option for the Government departments that run essential parts of their daily lives.
Worse, their taxes pay the wages of our enormous public sector workforce, leading to a growing sense of resentment when they are put on hold for the umpteenth time – or simply don’t get put through to a human on the phone at all.
The sheer scale of the epidemic of inefficiency sweeping the country means Boris Johnson’s plans to tackle the overstaffed public sector by taking a knife to more than 90,000 civil service jobs in line with pre-pandemic levels is hugely welcome.
There can be little doubt that the civil service is now hugely over-staffed and in desperate need of pruning back. But with so many working ‘flexibly’ from home, is it any wonder they need so many to get the job done?

Worth reading in full.
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Every decision involves a trade-off – which means that full data should be available and not waved away by a wave of an activists hand.
In my work, I’ve tried to obtain these sorts of data from official and/or reliable sources. It’s either extremely difficult or, more usually, the data is simply not available. And that’s before you have to face the possibility that some of the data is fake.
Perhaps windmill fires are as ‘rare’ as battery cars going up in flames and toxic smoke. There was a more unusual one where a battery scooter in the boot caught fire and burnt a normal car out.
‘exposed to the same flow of oxygen that fuels fire’
Glad they mentioned that. I’d have wondered otherwise …
And don’t ever forget ‘they are designed to catch the wind’
You learn something new everyday!
It does seem to be written for the ‘hard of thinking’ doesn’t it… also there’s a quote an engine was damaged… surely they mean generator?
Unless they have a motor to make the turbine go round on calm days, to create the impression it’s doing some good, and create a breeze to drive the next turbine downwind?
Don’t worry, I’m not being serious.
Joking aside, I wonder if they do have a small diesel generator as a power backup of last resort… it certain conditions they need to be able to brake the thing, or furl the blades (I think that’s the term used)
Don’t worry they are connected to the Grid! But if that fails there will be a problem.
That’s what I meant – say your wind farm of 100 turbines loses its grid connection and a storm is coming, they must have some inbuilt backup power to park them / protect them somehow or you could lose the lot. Maybe some stored air or similar + batteries for control gear
Except on the days when it is too windy to generate electricity……
Ohh… but no problem the con-companies still get paid
The smoke from that fire is reall pollution. What will the greenies say – nothing, I suspect.
Plus the carbon compounds.
Probably saved a few birds by burning down. Chris Packham should be happy!
Not for nothing some three hundred years ago were all those dark satanic mills powered by the high density, high gradient, high continuity hydrocarbon energy that superseded flaky windmills and waterwheels inherently subject to the whims of weather.
And three hundred years later, dimwit politicians and media still don’t get it.
Bring me my bow of burning coal, bring me my arrows of fire.
Bring me my arrow & I know where I’d shoot it…
More please.
What a good job wind energy is so cheap and plentiful. They’ll have plenty of money in the coffers to buy replacement turbines.
I’m in ironic mode today.
They destroy on so many levels and yet they are held to be benificent. You don’t need a clearer illustration of the Satanic nature of this agenda. You find it in every area of this project. Everything they produce is the very opposite of what it purports to be. The electric car is an increasingly conspicuous example. Just consider their conceit, the assumption that we would all just go along with this agenda and eat the bugs. It really shows you how much they are high on their own supply.
I’m sure the insurers have the data
“Firefighters arrived to find a well-developed fire involving a wind turbine…”
I’m certain this fire would have been visible from some miles away.
I tried, a few years ago, to find Health and Safety statistics for Big Wind. Both onshore and offshore.
For some strange reason, official statistics of serious injury and fatalities were then hard to find.
No doubt the HSE are now all over the case, such a blatantly high risk workplace!
I well remember how keen Her Majesty’s Mining Inspectorate were, quite rightly!
Surely, it couldn’t be the case that different H&S approaches were applied to different industries??
Add that environmental hazard to the thousands of EVs that are catching fire when it is least expected. The fire caused by a damaged or faulty battery is very toxic and incredibly difficult to put out.