Workers will be flocking back to their offices ‘in a few short months’, predicts Boris Johnson

Commuters will flock back to their desks ‘in a few short months’, Boris Johnson predicted yesterday.

Speaking at a rail industry conference, the Prime Minister dismissed the idea that the lockdowns of the last year would lead to a permanent shift towards working from home.

Guidance to work from home is expected to remain in place until at least June 21 to head off the risk of a resurgence in Covid cases.

But the PM said he believed normal work patterns would resume once the lockdown restrictions are finally lifted.

Addressing the conference via video link, he said: ‘I know that some people may imagine that all conferences are going be like this, held over Zoom, Teams or what have you and we’ve got to prepare for a new age in which people don’t move around, do things re-motely, they don’t commute any more.

‘I don’t believe it. Not for a moment. In a few short months, if all goes to plan, we in the UK are going to be reopening our economy. And then believe me the British people will be consumed once again with their desire for the genuine face-to-face meeting that makes all the difference to the deal or whatever it is. 

‘Never mind seeing our loved ones, going on holiday or whatever. 

The prediction echoes comments from Goldman Sachs boss David Solomon who described working from home as an ‘aberration’.

Speaking to a virtual conference organised by Credit Suisse, Soloman said: ‘That’s a temporary thing. I do think that for a business like ours, which is an innovative, collaborative apprenticeship culture, this is not ideal for us.’

He also said it would never become the ‘new normal’.

Michael Gove is currently holding a review into the introduction of vaccine passports – with several large companies considering using them as a means of re-opening their businesses. 

The introduction of vaccine passports has also seen support from former Prime Minister Tony Blair.

 Blair has said that society is unlikely to return to normal without a domestic vaccine passport scheme in place.

Speaking at an event with the Institute for Government, Mr Blair said that it will be difficult to see how the public will have the ‘confidence’ to go back to life as normal without a means to show people have been vaccinated or have tested negative for coronavirus.

One option understood to be on the table would involve businesses able to check test results on the NHS app. Individuals would be able to show that they have either had a jab or tested negative – maintaining their choice about vaccination.

Government sources stressed that no decisions have been taken and work is at an early stage. But supporters say such a concept could help theatres, cinemas, sporting venues and workplaces get back towards normality more quickly.

As part of plans to lift lockdown, sports fans could be back in stadiums within weeks to test how coronavirus spreads in crowds, once people have been vaccinated or tested.

This could extend to a potential vaccine passport scheme.

The trails will use an adapted version of the NHS app, which will certify if a person has been vaccinated or tested negative.

The app can then be used to analyse any incidence of the disease or spread of Covid infections resulting from the event.

It comes as Jonathan Van-Tam has urged Britons not to ‘relax’ as the UK heads into a glorious weekend with the first warm weather for months, warning that ‘this is not a battle that we have won yet’.

The deputy chief medical officer for England brought stern warnings to tonight’s Downing Street press conference when he told the public: ‘Do not wreck this now’.

Coronavirus cases are rising in dozens of parts of England, around one in five and mainly in the Midlands and the North, Professor Van-Tam said, and people must continue to follow lockdown rules for as long as they are in place.

He called for the UK to ‘hold our nerve’ and added: ‘I do worry that people think it’s all over. The more they think that when it’s not, the greater the headwind they’re going to give to the vaccine programme and the more at risk will become the milestones set on the road map.’ 

Grant Shapps also announced new Government legislation with the aim of helping the struggling airline industry.

Airlines are usually required to use 80 per cent of slots at oversubscribed airports or risk them being taken away the following year.

Previously, this had led to airlines operating ‘ghost flights’ with almost no passengers on board, to ensure they maintain their slots – worth millions of pounds at Heathrow. 

However, new Government legislation has been introduced to extend the waiver of slot allocation rules to support airlines which have been struggling during the coronavirus pandemic. 

This means that the ‘use it or lose it’ policy in relation to the slots has been suspended during the pandemic, with many flight schedules slashed to reduce losses caused by the collapse in demand for flights. 

Mr Shapps said extending the policy is ‘critical’ to the resumption of international travel.

He went on: ‘With airlines flying a smaller proportion of their usual schedules, the waiver means carriers can reserve their finances, reduce the need for environmentally damaging ghost flights and allow normal services to immediately restart when the pandemic allows.’