If this is the UK of the future then I'm considering my options. A company's policy must be made crystal clear to employees when they begin employment. There should follow a system of verbal and written warnings if the rules are flouted, unless the offender is breaking the law. I personally believe that a person should be given a second chance, unless they are deliberately harming someone else. If a company employs someone, they must value them in some way, and to discard them over something so harmless seems frivolous, not to mention draconian.
Time is lost when people chat to one another.
However, for a business to run efficiently employees must bond with one-another. This requires communication, and the sending and reading of emails is less time consuming than conversation. I'm not advocating large amounts of talk or large volumes of emails, but some room must be given. An employee who sends too many personal emails can be reprimanded in the same way as someone who talks too much. I think that only the people who are guilty of wasting firms time need worry about big brother in our work place.