Just HALF of Foreign Office staff were in the office to help trapped Brits amid Sudan crisis
- Foreign Secretary James Cleverly defended civil servants working from home
- Read more: Sudan’s Islamists use online networks and AI to make their move
The Foreign Secretary has defended his officials working from home as it emerged their office was half-empty as the Sudan crisis erupted.
James Cleverly said it did not matter where Foreign Office civil servants were based as long as they were hard at work, while Downing Street backed ‘flexible working’.
He was challenged as government figures showed their headquarters off Whitehall was only 51 per cent occupied in the week starting April 17, days after rival military factions began fighting in the Sudanese capital Khartoum.
It was the second-emptiest department, with only HM Revenue and Customs reporting fewer staff at their desks (48 per cent).
Even Britain’s ambassador to Sudan, Giles Lever, was on holiday as the violent clashes broke out. He is now working from London as he cannot return to the war-torn east African country.
Members of the medical team from the Duke of Lancaster’s Regiment, arrive with medical equipment during the evacuation of British citizens from Sudan on April 27
James Cleverly said it did not matter where Foreign Office civil servants were based as long as they were hard at work
Asked on Times Radio if the public could expect civil servants to be in the office when such events were going on, Mr Cleverly replied: ‘The Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office operates out of at least 300 locations around the world.
Read more: EXCLUSIVE Sudan’s Islamists use online networks and AI to make their move: Social media accounts spread claims hardliners will seize power as democracy leaders flee during Western evacuation just like the Taliban did in Afghanistan
Islamists are using a sophisticated social media operation to gain influence in Sudan. That includes using AI to fake a plot by US Ambassador John Godfrey to intervene in the country
‘My organisation works remotely, always has done, and so therefore I know that whether people are in Westminster, or in our office in Scotland, or in Khartoum, or Addis Ababa, or one of a number of places around the world, they are working hard, they’re working every minute of the day in time zones all around the globe, it’s what we do.’
Pressed on whether or not it bothered him that some were at their homes, he replied: ‘If someone is working hard, working late, working long hours, whether they’re doing that from the crisis response centre in the bowels of our office in Westminster or if they’re doing that from a satellite phone, I don’t mind.’
The Prime Minister’s official spokesman insisted FCDO staff were working flat out, telling reporters: ‘There are hundreds of Foreign Office staff supplemented by Home Office staff and MoD in a crisis centre right now.
‘They have been working 24/7. There are staff who have been flown out into a war zone to assist. That will continue. I don’t think there can be any doubt about the extent of the effort from across Government.’
And he added: ‘More broadly on office working we know it is important, you’ve heard from the Prime Minister and others about the value we place on face-to-face working.
‘And obviously we have seen significant increases in attendance, following the pandemic, as you would expect. But there will always be an element of flexible working as part of any model.’
But senior Tory MP Jacob Rees-Mogg, who led the drive to get civil servants back to their desks when he was a Cabinet Office minister, told the Mail: ‘The shortcomings in Afghanistan ought to have encouraged them to be in the office this time round.
‘The Foreign Office seems to be doing better this time but you would have thought that in emergency circumstances it would be more efficient to have people working together.’
There was hope for hundreds of Britons who feared they would be trapped in Sudan after a ceasefire which had been due to expire last night was extended for another 72 hours. The truce between Sudan’s army and rebel forces, mediated by the US and Saudi Arabia, is now due to last until midnight on Sunday.
Senior Tory MP Jacob Rees-Mogg, who led the drive to get civil servants back to their desks when he was a Cabinet Office minister, told the Mail: ‘The shortcomings in Afghanistan ought to have encouraged them to be in the office this time round’
A note (pictured) which was left on empty desks at Whitehall by Jacob Rees-Mogg, during his campaign to get more civil servants back into the office
As of yesterday evening, 897 people, the vast majority of them UK citizens, had been flown out of the country by the RAF.
Another flight was expected to take off from Sudan last night, bringing the total of evacuees to just over 1,000.
More than 2,000 UK nationals had informed the Foreign Office of their wish to leave. If they cannot be airlifted out, the Royal Navy is ready to sail them out of Port Sudan more than 500 miles away.
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