A former business secretary has warned some people on furlough are avoiding going back to work because it has been “great” for them, while others are “terrified” of returning to the office. Conservative MP Dame Andrea Leadsom said some businesses in her South Northamptonshire constituency are struggling to get employees to return to work because “people have, to be perfectly frank, become used to being on furlough.” Leadsom told BBC Radio 4’s “Any Questions” programme: “For some people, they’re just terrified. So it’s like, ‘I’ve been on furlough for so long, I really can’t quite face going back to the office’ and employers are rightly saying, ‘well, you need to.’ “So there’s that issue, the mental health issue, the fear of it. “For other people, it’s like, ‘Well actually being on furlough in lockdown has been great for me—I’ve got a garden, I’ve been able to go out walking every …