Whitehall’s stayaway pen-pushers must have no doubt their cushy number is up

Home groan

THE history of espionage is littered with data blunders, from classified documents left at bus stops to blueprints of MI6’s HQ going missing during renovations.

Even so, the casual complacency shown by a US spy in the latest security breach is jaw-dropping.

The lazy spook put a hoard of top-secret papers — including RAF jet codes — online unencrypted just so he could work from home.

Hopefully The Sun’s alerting of the authorities will mean the gaffe cannot be weaponised by the West’s enemies.

But questions are already being asked as to what security compromises others may also have made for the sake of work/life balance in the pandemic.

While most UK civil servants are not privy to such sensitive data, lax security can still jeopardise the public, and what system is foolproof with tens of thousands of staff working remotely?

Add the drop in productivity WFH entails, and no wonder Efficiency Minister Jacob Rees-Mogg is so keen to cajole moaning mandarins back to the office.

Moving the jobs North if the shirkers refuse to play ball would help to deliver on the Tories’ levelling-up agenda, save taxpayers money on London-weighted salaries and mine a fresh seam of talent who may not be appalled at being asked to deliver policies supported by voters.

Sounds like a win-win to us. But either way, Whitehall’s stayaway pen-pushers must have no doubt their cushy number is up.

Pitch battle

FOOTBALL may be big business nowadays, but our clubs are more than just that — they are also woven into the fabric of British society and even our identity.

So we welcome the Government’s proposals to give fans a “golden share” veto on their club being moved to another town, and toughen

up barriers to takeovers by dodgy owners.

The success of these measures will be determined by the effectiveness of the Government’s new football regulator, but at least the shot is on target.

Even if it only blocks another break-away European Super League bid, most fans will heave a sigh of relief.

Our national sport is too important to play games with it.

Ty another day

TYSON Fury is as unpredictable outside the ring as in it, so who knows if he will follow through on his vow to quit?

The only thing we can be sure of is that fans will feel short-changed if they never see the Gypsy King test his mettle against two of his biggest rivals in Anthony Joshua and Oleksandr Usyk.

If he bows out now, he will always be dogged by a chorus of what ifs.

Fury’s wife Paris is right that he doesn’t need to box on for money.

But what price a sporting legacy?