Clive Lewis MP, Labour’s Shadow Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, commenting on reports that the Government will announce extra investment for broadband connectivity in the Autumn Statement, said:

“Digital connectivity is vital to UK competitiveness, but, once again, the Government are failing to understand the scale of the challenge the country faces. While South Korea, Japan and China are leading the way in super-fast broadband, broadband provision in the UK remains one of the most expensive among developed countries, and highly variable in terms of coverage and quality.

“Extra investment is welcome but the Tories have made similar promises before and then scrapped Labour’s plans for a universal rollout of broadband by 2012. And pitting councils against each other, or encouraging new providers to poach customers from old, is unlikely to help those that most need it - namely, the rural areas in which broadband is still virtually non-existent, or the 14 percent of small businesses who identify poor connectivity as their main barrier to growth.

“The Government have had six years to sort this out, yet while they continue to tinker round the edges the fact is they are behind even their own targets for super-fast broadband.”