With Boris asking the Civil Service to go back to work, the largest trade union in that sector has raised concerns, citing the risk to employees’ health.
In a bid to get Parliament back to some form of normality, the Prime Minister is asking members of the Civil Service to go back to work, with the aim of reaching 80% coming in once a week by the end of September.
A hybrid parliament has existed in the country since the height of the pandemic, which has resulted in long queues when MPs vote.
The Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS), which represents more than 800 workers, is fighting back. They claim that it would be unsafe for workers to return, due to the coronavirus pandemic, threatening to consider industrial action if the Government forces them to return.
However, footage has emerged this week from a Zoom call held in June, during which the General Secretary of the PCS, Mark Serwotka, suggested that he wanted “the Government to go”.
During the call, Mr Serwotka claimed: “If Jeremy Corbyn had won that election in December, thousands of people would be alive today who have died.” He pledged to “fight the Government” with the help of the Labour Party, aiming to do away with the Conservatives.
Mark Serwotka has also been a member of the Trotskyist organisation Socialist Organiser, for which he was expelled from the Labour Party. He is also a close ally of the previous Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, and has campaigned in the past to allow activists to deselect their MPs “democratically”.
The new head of the Civil Service
With Mark Sedwill departing as head of the Civil Service, a successor had to be chosen. 41-year-old Simon Case has been selected for the post.
Mr Case has been a very successful adviser to Prince William in the past. He was taken on by Boris in order to stabilise his government during the pandemic.
Boris has compared him to the famous Cabinet Secretary of May/Cameron, Jeremy Heywood. Civil servants have said similarities do exist between the two, such as the their intelligence and adaptability.
However, some figures in Whitehall say he is too inexperienced to carry out such a role, with some criticising him as Boris’ yes-man and a puppet of Cummings.
He will have a big job ahead of him, with many powerful forces pulling him in different directions.
