Draft Electronic Communications Code (Jurisdiction) Regulations 2017 Draft Communications Act 2003 and the Digital Economy Act 2017 (Consequential amendments to Primary Legislation) Regulations 2017

Liam Byrne Excerpts

Wednesday 6th December 2017 General Committees

[Liam Byrne (Birmingham, Hodge Hill) (Lab)]

It is a privilege to serve under your chairmanship again, Sir Henry. You will be delighted to hear that the Opposition will not press the Committee to a Division on these important draft regulations. However, it is important to state the context for the record.

It was revealed in the Government’s lamentable Budget two weeks ago that the recovery that they have managed to deliver has been slower than after the years of the great depression. As we head towards Brexit, it is critical that we get a digital infrastructure in place so that we can become the world’s leading digital society. We should be at the top of the league tables, but most of them have us batting at about fifth, sixth, seventh or eighth. Indeed, the UK—the home of the industrial revolution—is now not even among the World Economic Forum’s top 10 most innovative nations. That is how poor the Government have allowed our digital infrastructure to become. We have a crisis in digital skills, which is a debate we will turn to in due course.

It was a great shame that, when the Digital Economy Bill came to the House, the Government sought in a rather mule-headed way to resist the intelligent amendments tabled by my hon. Friend the Member for Sheffield, Heeley (Louise Haigh). The Bill made progress, but it could best be characterised as suffering from a poverty of ambition. None the less, the next Labour Government will correct that. Bring it on: we hope that the election will be soon. In the meantime, as the Minister said, these are technically important amendments. The transferring of disputes to tribunals is sensible and was recommended by the Law Commission, as the Minister said. It is the sort of administrative change that I made as Immigration Minister—I moved a slew of immigration appeals to the very efficient tribunals that we have in this country, which was a sensible provision.

I hope, frankly, that the regulations will give the Government something they can use to accelerate the roll-out of digital infrastructure. You will know, Sir Henry, from your part of the world that many of the areas in the country that are going to be hit hardest by Brexit are also those where digital infrastructure and access to digital skills is among the poorest. The Government have to raise their game, and raise it quickly. If the amendments made by these regulations will help, we will not push the Committee to a Division on them.