Chris Philp has told Brits to pull up their bootstraps, but have we really lost our work ethic? We let two writers hash it out in this week’s Debate

Yes: British workers turn out less per hour than counterparts in the US, Germany and France

Britain has a productivity challenge, levels are below 2013 and we desperately need growth. Many say that Brits have lost their work ethic, and there’s stats to back that up. The ONS found that British workers turn out less for every hour they work than their counterparts in other advanced economies such as the US, Germany and France. Even so, we must be careful before we blame this on the character of workers themselves. Instead, we must provide people with the right environment and workplace tools to boost their output. Productivity is not all about working harder, but smarter.

Tools are humankind’s best inventions, and we must capitalise on them—and digitalisation in particular—to overcome the barriers to productivity and hard work. Digitalisation and automation can help lift heavy administrative burdens, but many........

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