In the chaos that surrounds us, we are increasingly told that we must get on with things and not focus on triumph or disaster. I must say I am finding that tricky and, judging from the tweets of SCL members, I am not alone. But you might think that government would set an example.
If you recall, right near the top of the Queen’s Speech was a mention for the Digital Economy Bill. The {initial amplifying notes: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/524040/Queen_s_Speech_2016_background_notes_.pdf} told us:
{i}This Bill will modernise our climate for enterprise, making sure Britain remains at the forefront of the global 21st century economy so that our businesses continue to create jobs and our families remain financially secure. It will include:
• Giving every household a legal right to a fast broadband connection.
• New laws to help telecommunications providers build the infrastructure needed for faster broadband and better mobile networks.
• Allowing consumers to be automatically compensated when things go wrong with their broadband service.{/i}
And there was more detail thereafter.
I have a simple question. We were told that the Bill was necessary and important. Where is it?
Let’s prove that government hasn’t ground to a halt and is capable of decisive action and get on with legislating to save billions (apparently) and stop the continuing corruption of 17-year-old males by obstructing their access to pornography.
I searched the GOV.UK site today for news of the ‘Digital Economy Bill’. Top of the results was ‘Pay your self-assessment tax bill’. I hadn’t realised that I was that important to the digital economy. I was a little flattered.
But it turns out that I was even more important than I knew. Four days after posting this, the government published {the Bill: http://www.scl.org/site.aspx?i=ne48123}. I am not saying it was cause and effect but you can draw your own conclusions.
