It's nearly five years on since the city streets fell into an eerie hush as Covid lockdown restrictions took effect, with all but "essential" stores closed and millions of office employees getting their first-ever taste of working from home.

Social distancing now seems a distant memory but remote and hybrid working has become the norm for more than a third of the population, according to latest official figures. Stuart Rose, who has headed up some of the biggest companies in UK retail, reckons this is creating a generation of people who are "not doing proper work".

What exactly does that mean? For different people, there are different answers. Some might say that acting, music or writing - including the scribblings of journalists - isn't "proper work". There was a time when sitting behind a desk was deemed to fall foul of legitimate employment, with only physical labour worthy of the moniker.

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That is not, however, what Conservative peer Lord Rose appears to be suggesting. Rather, the former boss of Marks & Spencer and Asda seems concerned that feckless employees are neglecting their duties when out from under the watchful eyes of management.

“We have regressed in this country in terms of working practices, productivity and in terms of the country’s wellbeing, I think, by 20 years in the last four," he told BBC One's Panorama.

“People who drive trains have to go to work. People who work in........

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