Government 'holding digital Britain back' claims Labour
Labour Leader Jeremy Corbyn has criticised the UK's broadband infrastructure and has pledged more money to the sector if he becomes Prime Minister.
The speech, at the British Chambers of Commerce, comes after an Ofcom review into the broadband and telecoms market. Mr Corbyn heavily criticised the Conservative government, indicating that the current system “is simply not working.”
Mr Corbyn supported comments made recently by Chi Onwurah, who stated that the government was dragging its feet and “holding digital Britain back”.
"The evidence is clear that only the public sector and public investment can guarantee the super-fast broadband network in every part of Britain — the essential low-cost connections people and businesses need in a 21st-century economy," Mr Corbyn told the audience.
Mr Corbyn's comments come at the same time as a pledge by the Labour party to invest in the UK's infrastructure, citing figures from the Centre for Economics and Business, which ranked the UK thirteenth on the infrastructure scale, behind every G7 country except Canada.
The Conservative government argue that it has already invested in programmes. It prefers to partner up with private sector organisations to invest in the UK's digital infrastructure, such as the Superfast Broadband programme, aiming to bring 24Mbps to 95 per cent of UK households and businesses, as well as a Universal Service Obligation (USO) guaranteeing speeds of 10Mbps.
Mr Corbyn claims Labour would invest more in infrastructure, spending at least 3.5 per cent of the country's GDP on improving infrastructure. Mr Corbyn claimed that would total “more than double the Conservatives” and that borrowing to invest in the country's infrastructure makes “economic sense”.
He concluded by stating that “businesses are being held back and unable to expand, especially in rural areas thanks to the Conservative Government's lack of investment.”
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(Image: Kainet)
