Banning work from home will take Britain backwards - London Business News | Londonlovesbusiness.com
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Banning work from home will take Britain backwards - London Business News | Londonlovesbusiness.com
"Nigel Farage's promise to ban working from home if Reform are elected is undoubtedly the kind of policy that grabs headlines - but it falls apart the moment you think about how people actually work in the UK in 2026. Proponents of banning work from home misunderstand what many businesses have already settled on: neither a permanent retreat into our spare bedrooms nor a return to five-days-a-week commuting, but a mixed, managed approach that gets the best out of both."
"The Office for National Statistics reports that more than a quarter of working adults in Great Britain are hybrid working; the House of Commons Library revealed that around 27% of employees work partly from home, with a further share working fully remotely. This matters because the UK labour market has already adapted in job design, employee expectations, commuting, childcare arrangements and office footprints, among other things."
Nigel Farage's pledge to ban working from home ignores how the UK workforce operates in 2026. Many businesses now use hybrid models that blend remote and in-person work to capture benefits of both arrangements. In-person time supports trust-building, effective onboarding, faster problem solving and team cohesion. Official data show more than a quarter of working adults adopt hybrid or partly remote arrangements. Employers and employees have adjusted job design, commuting, childcare and office footprints around hybrid norms. A blanket ban would force a disruptive reset, impose real costs and offer no guarantee of improved productivity or outcomes.
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