We may prefer working from home but most of us will go back to the office in the end

Public opinion is resistant to Boris Johnson’s exhortations to go back to our desks but he’ll win out because of the hidden hand of the laws of economics, writes John Rentoul

Studies find 88 per cent of people who have been working from home say they would like to continue to do so at least some of the time (Getty)

Only one in six staff have returned to the office in British cities, according to one survey – and the government’s desperation to raise that number prompted one anonymous cabinet minister to say something foolish about working from home: “Companies will realise some people weren’t working as hard as they thought. There is going to be a review of how productive people are.”

The headline generated by that comment, “Go back to work or risk losing your job”, was denounced by an equally anonymous Downing Street source: “This is a deeply irresponsible headline with no truth behind it. Our priority has always and will always be protecting people’s jobs.”

Some parts of the government, at least, realise the danger of reviving the Conservatives’ “nasty party” problem. Especially when 88 per cent of people who have been working from home say they would like to continue to do so at least some of the time, according to a new survey by Cardiff and Southampton universities.