"Back to work" seems to be the new message. I'm outraged by it. They could be saying "back to the office", but they aren't, and it's deliberate. Divide and rule. Make a distinction between retail/factory employees who can't work from home, and lower middle-class types, who by implication have been skiving at home for the past five months.
Truth is, some have never worked harder, not least down to Government incompetence. A friend who is a civil servant / Council worker type has had a week's leave in April cancelled, has regularly put in 12 hour days - mainly to cover for the poor coronavirus messaging and constant U-turns. Making critical public health announcements at 5pm Friday press briefings meant that instead of logging off, all of those in Local Authorities, schools, NHS etc had to stay late to work out exactly what these sudden declarations meant for us and the people we have to look after and work on plans over weekends.
Now we're being told I have to "get back to work"... take the bus, buy a fucking sandwich, drop into Primark on my way back and maybe treat myself to a socially distanced Greene King cod and chips. They treat us with nothing but contempt, the same feeling I have for them, but mine is justified.
For some this means an extra few hundred quid a month on travel. For some this means 20+ extra hours of commuting a week. The huge benefits that working from home has made to many peoples welfare should not be overlooked.
Make no mistake, Tories are not just encouraging class divide/warfare, they want you back in the office to benefit mega corporations, to benefit landlords, and to make your life less good just because things have changed.
That 250 quid a month you save on your commute - let's be honest you're still spending it. Whether it's interesting trinkets from etsy, a trip to the local zoo, a delivery from your local farm etc, it still gets spent and is going into the economy, its just not going where the Tories want it.