Mel Stride, whose priority since entering office last year has been getting people back to work in a bid to boost the British economy, also suggested that the pandemic had left a toll on the mental health of many people.

Speaking to the Times newspaper, Mr Stride promised an expansion of life-coach schemes for those with long-term health conditions in a bid to get people back to work.

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“There is a lot around mental health, particularly amongst younger people – phobias and anxieties have been on the increase and you can speculate about, it is social media driven.

“And driven in part by the pandemic and lockdown – lots of things that could feed into that,” Mr Stride told the paper.

The paper also reported that Mr Stride name-checked musculoskeletal problems, a side-effect of poor posture when working from home, as among the other factors.

He also told the paper that the current cost-of-living crisis may have “increased the propensity of people to apply for benefits”.