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news
peloton ad xmas 2019.PNGTory chairman: Get off your Peloton and back to your desk
Tory chairman Oliver Dowden has told the Conservative Party Conference in Manchester that “People need to get off their Pelotons and back to their desks,” in what a trade union has described as an “insult” to civil servants.
People have been encouraged to work from home wherever possible during the coronavirus pandemic, and the civil service has been no exception.
Dowden’s remarks follow comments from his former permanent secretary at the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport – where he was Secretary of State until last month’s cabinet reshuffle – about how using her Peloton static bike at home had helped her health during lockdown, reports BBC News.
Speaking at a conference in September, Sarah Healey said: “I have a Peloton and I can just get on my bike whenever I have a teeny bit of time.
“That has been a huge benefit to my well-being, the lack of travelling time eating into my day.”
> Peloton cuts cost of exercise bike by 20 per cent as losses worsen
But today, Dowden told a fringe meeting sponsored by the Daily Telegraph at the Tory conference: “I like my permanent secretary at DCMS enormously, Sarah Healey, but I am disagreeing with her on this one.
“I think people need to get off their Pelotons and get back to their desks.”
He continued: “People really want the government to lead by example – they want civil servants to get back to work as well. We've got to start leading by example on that.”
The First Division Association, which represents senior civil servants, accused Dowden of producing a soundbite to appease party members.
“As the civil service, the broader public sector and thousands of companies in the private sector already know, what you deliver is far more important than where it's delivered from,” it said.
“The pandemic has driven a quiet revolution in working practices that has seen innovation and reform from both the public and private sectors.
“Yet despite the incredible feats performed, ministers continue to want to stand in the way of progress and reform for the sake of a quick headline.”
The union added: “The hypocrisy of ministers – who are happy to bank the savings in office space delivered by hybrid working but decry the practice for the party faithful – is frankly insulting to the dedication, professionalism and commitment of hundreds of thousands of public servants.”
According to figures published by the government, Healey’s annual salary is at least £160,000.
A number of Twitter users pointed out however that the base cost of a Peloton bike – recently reduced to £1,350 for the standard model – plus the monthly media subscription to online classes put it beyond the reach of most civil servants.
Most earn less than £30,000 a year according to analysis of 2020 figures from the Institute for Government, and only a quarter earned more than £40,000.
With the median UK Civil Service salary £28,180 and a Peloton bike + 1 year subscription coming in at £2,218, I'm going to go out on a limb and say the number of civil servants too busy working out on posh exercise bikes to go to the office is in the single figures at most. https://t.co/1wjXU3UkT3
— Sharon O'Dea (@sharonodea) October 5, 2021
Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.
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104 comments
It may not be much comfort in the immediate term but it is the only long term solution to the problem.
It is a fact that lower incomes have risen faster than higher incomes under the Conservatives.
If this was more widely covered in the media perhaps more of the 'red wall' would switch their vote.
Especially when people like you clearly hold them in such contempt.
Apart from lying and pissing people off (their workers, in this instance) is there anything Tories are actually good at? Apart from getting elected I mean?
in the "real" world they so often like to talk about their incompetence would mean they last seconds...
Feathering their own nests, absolute bloody world class. Credit where it's due...
And a gold medal for hypocrisy.
Not any more, no. They did favour low taxes, but that seems to have gone out of the window.
Only because they're making use of certain offshore jurisdictions to minimise their own tax exposure...
They still favour low taxes for themselves and their mates, it's only the workers that'll pay more.
As the old saying goes "The lower class pay taxes, the middle class pay accountants, and the upper class pay politicians."
Lets be honest about this, it doesn't matter which party is in power, not one of them can plan and execute a project, or manage a crisis confidently.
All every single one of them is good at is; self serving promotion, dodgeing honest answers and having teflon shoulders. The Westminster bubble clearly doesn't reflect the real world. (Privatise the cabinet office I hear you cry).
Lowering taxes sounded like a good idea at the time and I'm sure the old boys club were all clapping themselves on the backs at such a radical idea, but then, I guess if you were lumped with an unexpected £500billion bank loan over two years to swallow in your household accounts, that'd probably change anyones best intentions.
I've only got three mates who work in the civil service, all in jobs where the workload has increased massively during the pandemic (NHS administration and Court of Protection officers for the elderly) whilst at the same time trying to manage homeschooling their kids for a big slice of the last eighteen months and in two cases look after elderly isolating parents. They are all reasonably senior in rank so could probably afford a Peleton but as one texted me just after seeing Dowden's remarks, "I count myself lucky if I have five minutes for a cuppa, let alone time for a workout."
Our pet Tories, who have recently been boasting of their empathy for others, will doubtless have excuses for Dowden's ridiculous and offensive remarks.
Of no great relevance, but I used to work for Sarah.
She sounds a very sensible woman who cares for her staff and wants them to enjoy the benefits of flexible working. Unfortunately Googling her the first headline that shows up is (no prizes for guessing from whence this came):
In my experience, she is very nice, very intelligent, and very good at her job. (She also was on a University Challenge winning team, and returned for the alumni Christmas special series.)
Was it the Guardian?
Fooled! It was the Morning Star.
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