‘Sporting chance is just not fair’ (From York Press)

‘Working from home’ does not mean sitting in front of the TV all day long. With the instant messaging and video tools we have in place today these civil servants will probably find themselves chained to their computer rather than the TV. And, given that many may well be inclined (or feel pressurised) to spend their normal commuting / tea break / gossiping time tapping at their keyboards, then in practice the government may get a pleasant surprise and find this move actually increases productivity.

Why this obsession with working hard?

Life should be for living and with millions unemployed and under employed we should be sharing employment with reduced working hours for all.

Firstly there are thousands of public sector employees outside of the Olympic catchment area that this wouldn`t affect anyway.
Frankly your statement "mentality of the cosseted public sector" is wrong and an insult to the many low paid and hard working staff who are a necessity to keep the country running.
The cuts to staffing in the public sector so far have meant that most departments are understaffed and not running effectively. Try ringing any public body and wonder why you can`t get through on the phone, it`s because there aren`t people to answer it! Staff are stressed and overworked. I know of people who have chest pain because of the volume of work they are expected to get through, is it worth it for an average of £13000 to £16000 a year.
I have worked in both sectors and the job I had with the most family friendly hours and the highest pay was in the private sector. All jobs I have had in both sectors have had pension schemes with contributions from employee and employer that you can opt in or out of.
You show that you are just taking in what you read in the Daily Mail and have absolutely no experience first hand of what you are spouting.
If you have a picture in your head of millions of workers who don`t really have any `real work` to do and sit about all day drinking coffee then you need to get a reality check and change your view because frankly, people like you are doing nothing but harm to our country.