Politics LIVE: Starmer backs MORE people working from home as staff set to be given more rights

The Prime Minister has backed a move towards more working from home after senior Labour figures pushed for wide-ranging workplace reforms.

Sir Keir Starmer’s spokesman warned that a “culture of presenteeism” was driving down productivity, following plans to hand staff across the country the “right to switch off” and impose fines on bosses who contacted employees out of hours.

He said: “Good employers understand that for workers to stay motivated and productive, they do need to be able to switch off and a culture of presenteeism can be damaging to productivity.

“It’s about making sure we have the right balance between making the most of the flexible working practices that we saw following the pandemic, with also having appropriate arrangements in place to ensure that people can stay productive.”

But research into working from home has debunked its supposed productivity bump.

A study of over 1,500 workers at a Chinese tech firm found that despite making workers “happier”, there was no real increase in output.

Stanford University’s Nicholas Bloom said the results would surprise people who “love working from home and expect large productivity gains” – as well as those who “hate working from home and expected the productivity impacts to be really negative”.

Bloom told The Times: “Their claim would be that all the time saved travelling and the quiet at home would lead to a productivity surge for remote work.”

Starmer vows to make UK an ‘energy superpower’ with eco plans

Sir Keir Starmer said his hopes of making Britain an “energy superpower” will include a key role for Wales, ahead of a wind farm visit with the new First Minister.

The Prime Minister and Eluned Morgan will travel to a site in West Wales on Tuesday as part of their first official visit together.

The pair, who held talks on Monday in Cardiff, are expected to pledge to work closely on realising the benefits of a publicly-owned energy company.

The Welsh Government previously launched Trydan Gwyrdd Cymru while the UK Government is developing Great British Energy.

GB Energy, which has been allocated £8.3billion of funding over the next five years, has been tasked with developing future offshore wind projects as part of moves to hasten the UK’s transition to renewable energy.

Lib Dems fined for election spending failures

The Liberal Democrats have been fined a total of £3,600 by election authorities for 22 offences linked to the late reporting of donations.

The Electoral Commission said the five fines were paid by August 2.

Meanwhile, the Richmond Park Constituency Labour Party in south-west London was fined £1,000, which it paid on July 26.

The Electoral Commission probed the local party’s “failure to deliver its 2022 statement of accounts by the deadline”, and found one offence.

Jackie Killeen, electoral administration and regulation director at the watchdog, said in a statement: “The laws we enforce are there to ensure there is transparency over the money spent and received by political parties, and to increase public confidence in our system.

“It’s important that parties comply with the requirements, and report to us in a timely fashion.”

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