Business of the House

Matthew Offord Excerpts

Thursday 25th March 2021 Commons Chamber

[Mr Rees-Mogg]

The hon. Gentleman is brave to bring to this House a discussion of two Governments. There are all sorts of things I could be tempted to say about the Government currently in Scotland and all the extraordinary shenanigans going on there—who said what to whom, when and where, and who may or may not have put pressure on prosecutors. All sorts of things are going on; it is all pretty unsatisfactory, and it is lucky that there are elections coming up.

I would point out that devolution has the benefit of the strength of the United Kingdom behind it. That is why the UK taxpayer has been able to provide £12.12 billion to Scotland during the pandemic. United Kingdom taxpayers—[Interruption.] The hon. Gentleman chunters away from a sedentary position, and I know that the people of Scotland pay taxes—particularly high taxes, because of the rapacious left-wing Government they have that likes to take money from them. However, it is UK taxpayers combined who have provided this £12.12 billion, which was supported 779,500 jobs, provided 78% of the tests that have been done in Scotland and then processed in the rest of the United Kingdom, and supported over 157,000 people on the self-employed scheme. The strength of the United Kingdom is quite extraordinary. Scotland benefits from that, and that is why it is able to afford to do the other things that the hon. Gentleman mentioned.

[Dr Matthew Offord (Hendon) (Con) [V]]

Making a success of Brexit, rebuilding after the pandemic, and changes to patterns of working, such as working from home, will all require a comprehensive and efficient broadband infrastructure. My constituents in Edgware and Mill Hill have already found to their detriment that current provision is not adequate, so I dread to think what it is like in other parts of the country. Will a Minister attend the Dispatch Box and outline what the Government are doing to make reliable, efficient broadband connectivity a reality? Red tape and regulation must not be excuses and hinder our progress in this field, given that we currently rank 47th in the world speed league.

[Mr Rees-Mogg]

I am grateful to my hon. Friend. I understand from the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport that his constituency has pretty good coverage, with over 66% of Hendon having access to gigabit-capable broadband, compared with the UK average of under 40%. Nevertheless, the Government are aware that we need to upgrade more of the broadband network to gigabit-capable speeds as soon as possible. We are targeting a minimum of 85% gigabit-capable coverage by 2025, but we are ambitious to get close to 100% as soon as possible, and we are spending £5 billion of taxpayers’ money in subsidising the roll-out in the harder-to-reach 20% of the United Kingdom. The first areas to benefit from the £5 billion Project Gigabit programme were announced on Friday. The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport is working with suppliers to ensure that there is maximum transparency around their plans, but I will of course pass on my hon. Friend’s concerns to the Secretary of State.