Labour MP Claims Rural Broadband Only For Rich

A Labour MP has ignited fury in the agrarian community after he controversially suggested that rural broadband benefited only the rich, and even questioned the economic benefits associated with superfast broadband.

The Labour MP in question is Graham Jones, the MP for Haslingden and Hyndburn, who reportedly made his controversial remarks as part of the Whitsun Recess in Parliament last week. He said rural broadband funding should be spent elsewhere and even questioned the need for farmers to have access to the internet.

For the rich?

In his blog posting on the matter, Jones took issue with the use of public funding via BDUK to provide superfast broadband to 97 percent of Lancashire by 2014.

“Should the tax payer be subsidising what is essentially a private business?” Jones asked. “Ironically for rural Tories that lament for Margaret Thatcher, it was the denationalisation of British Telecom, turning it from public servant to a profit only business that has left Britain lagging behind and the taxpayer footing the bill for SFRB (superfast rural broadband),” he wrote.

Jones also questioned whether superfast broadband would bring any jobs or wealth creation to the region.

“Not only do the demographics suggest that upgrading from broadband to super-fast broadband will not bring jobs, the geography does to,” he wrote. “It’s fine for new businesses that are media intensive, have no product to shift and don’t meet clients but the question is how many will fit that category?”

Enraged countryside

The comments from Jones have enraged rural broadband campaigners and those living in rural or semi-rural areas, who already have to deal with poor broadband provision, coupled with the lack of infrastructure benefits that urban dwellers currently enjoy. Campaigners also point to the fact that farmers now have to do 90 percent of their administration online.

His comments drew a quick response from the Countryside Alliance.

“Like Graham Jones, the Countryside Alliance wants to see universal broadband delivered for the lowest cost possible, but he has criminally missed the point of these plans,” said Sarah Lee, head of policy for the Countryside Alliance.

“In a digital age the need for fast and reliable broadband is just as important as the need for gas, electricity and water… People need to access more services online, especially critical government services; businesses need the internet for growth; and much of everyday communication now occurs online.

“The plain fact is that demand for broadband is going to grow and we need communication networks that are going to not only meet the need now, but in the future.

“When his own party’s deputy leader says she is concerned about the ‘digital underclass’, it is a terrible shame that Graham Jones does not share these fears for the rural poor of Lancashire.”

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