Matt Warman got given the media round this morning, to brag about the success of the government’s broadband rollout. His performance was, unfortunately, scuppered as his internet connection died mid-interview. Nick Ferrari had already covered questions on the £5 billion Project Gigabit rollout before moving on to other topics. As they moved on to the weekend’s events at Notting Hill Carnival, Matt’s picture froze and he fell offline.
“This is handy as you’re the broadband minister, you can’t hear me can you? That is sensational and the picture’s frozen so there we go – you’ve got the government banging on about how many billion pounds it is about gigabit and he can’t take the question.
Matt tells Guido fibre optic broadband is being deployed in Boston as we speak and is already operating in some limited areas.
Politicians trying to overturn the referendum result – or break pairing arrangements and then lie about it – should take a look at this Centre for Policy Studies poll on public faith in democracy. Their report ‘Who Governs Britain?‘, by Tory MP Matt Warman, commissioned a wide-ranging survey on confidence in the various democratic institutions in Britain. 40% of those polled said they had “no faith at all” in their MP to do the right thing if they had reason to contact them with an issue. This was the most common answer, and more than any other democratic institution surveyed. 74% said they had had no contact with their MP in any way in the last 12 months. Those numbers are already dangerously high – have to wonder what they would reach if Soubry, Grieve and the Lords got their way…
In his report, Warman suggests a series of new laws to improve accountability, including the right to know which elected official is ultimately responsible for a decision in any public-sector body. He concludes: “Our polling shows us the public do not feel elected officials truly represent them, and worse still if they do there’s no confidence that politicians would act in the best interest of their communities.”
An aside: only a small minority aren’t following Brexit at all. And Remainers are more likely to get this one wrong, despite their ‘superior’ education…
