THERE were red faces for the Tories yesterday after Theresa May attacked the Scottish Government over superfast broadband rollout – despite it being an issue that’s reserved to Whitehall.
The Scottish Government says the only reason it is involved is the UK Government’s “lack of ambition” in rolling out broadband access.
During Prime Minister’s Questions, Tory MP Luke Graham attacked the Scottish Government for not doing enough to get superfast broadband out to householders.
He said: “As of 2016, 17 per cent of the premises of in Scotland were without superfast broadband. This is compared with just 11 per cent for the UK as a whole.”
Graham then asked the Prime Minister to join with him in “calling on the Scottish Government to do more and to constructively engage with departments in Westminster to deliver this crucial service to com-munities in Scotland”.
The Prime Minister replied: “Can I say to my honourable friend, I think we all recognise the importance of broadband and fast broadband being available to people in our constituencies.
“But he’s absolutely right, the members of the Scottish National Party come down here to Westminster, they spend a lot of time talking about powers for the Scottish Government. Actually it’s time the Scottish Government got on with using its powers for the benefit of the people in Scotland.”
Fergus Ewing hit back: “These claims are entirely false. Our commitment to deliver 100 per cent superfast broadband access across Scotland by the end of 2021 is unique across the UK, and Ofcom’s Connected Nations Report 2016 highlighted that superfast broadband coverage in Scotland had seen the largest increase across the UK in the previous 12 months.
“While telecoms is wholly reserved to Westminster, the Scottish Government has had to intervene, given the importance of high quality broadband to our economy.”
Ewing added: “The UK Government should match our ambition, and celebrate the success of the Digital Scotland programme, rather than making these false claims.”
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel