Mobile madness in countryside

IT has the makings of a Yes, Prime Minister script; Downing Street urgently trying to make contact with a politician on a matter of national importance and having to squat against the sink in order to gain the faintest of mobile phone signals.

It could be worse – the PM waiting for the Minister to walk to the one corner of a field where he can take his orders because broadband is non-existent and not likely to be delivered for many years. The comic potential is enormous as the conversation ends with these four infuriating words ‘Can you hear me?’

Yet this is a regular occurrence for David Heath, the Farming Minister, who says the Government needs to accelerate the rolling out of the latest technology to the countryside.

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He’s right. Households across North Yorkshire will sympathise with the predicament of the senior Lib Dem who represents a rural Somerset seat. And they will also empathise with Mr Heath after he told his party conference: “How could I run a business from my home with that sort of provision? The simple reason is I couldn’t.”

This is the point. Though Ministers expect 90 per cent of Britain to have superfast broadband, they’re ominously quiet about the plight of the other 10 per cent. It’s the same with mobile phones, now an essential every day item for most people. There has been a noticeable increase in the occasions when users are cut off – presumably because the network is overloaded – and many well-populated areas in the ‘shires’ still have patchy coverage at best.

Mr Heath is not a lone voice in the wilderness. His boss Owen Paterson, the Environment Secretary, has expressed similar sentiments in less colourful language, and these interventions highlight the need for policies to be ‘rural-proofed’. The challenge for these two men is bringing their influence to bear when responsibility flies with the Department of Culture, Media and Sport which is still basking in the after-glow of the 2012 Olympics when not in conflict with Welcome to Yorkshire over next year’s Tour de France.

However it should not be too difficult to ask Culture Secretary Maria Miller to show some urgency – her Basingstoke constituency has excellent broadband and mobile phone coverage by all accounts.

Welfare rules

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IT is ironic that Keir Starmer QC, the outgoing Director of Public Prosecutions, advocates jail terms of 10 years for benefit cheats when the courts rarely issue such sentences for acts of extreme violence.

Mr Starmer is right when he says this is not a victimless crime – the people left out of pocket are those hardworking taxpayers who fund Britain’s £166bn a year benefits bill.

Yet his intervention must not be allowed to pass unchallenged for three very good reasons. First, it is perturbing that it has taken the Crown Prosecution Service – and Department of Work and Pensions – so long to realise that these instances should be dealt with under the Fraud Act where tougher sanctions can be handed out.

Second, taxpayers will be incredulous that those cases involving a deception of less than £20,000 were dealt with by magistrates rather than being passed to crown courts that have greater sentencing powers. It sent out a dangerous message that the authorities were not treating such cases with the seriousness that they merited.

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Third, this new threat of longer jail terms will be counter-productive if it is not enforced – an issue for Mr Starmer’s successor.

Yet, while the judiciary has a key role to play, perhaps the greater onus should be on the DWP to make sure its procedures are so water-tight so welfare payments are only paid to those recipients who meet the necessary criteria.

If Iain Duncan Smith’s department can ensure the veracity of claims at the outset, and then keep cases under regular review, particularly those where a working-age individual says they are incapacitated, the chances of fraud taking place will be diluted – and all taxpayers will be better off as a consequence.

Billy’s bravery

WITH the characteristic humour that has seen him elevated to the status of ‘national treasure’, comic genius Billy Connolly tried to make light of his difficulties remembering his punch lines earlier this year. Describing the experience as “terrifying”, he told his audience: “I feel like I’m going out of my mind.”

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On this occasion, however, it was no laughing matter. Little did this rumbustious Glaswegian realise he was suffering from the initial symptoms of Parkinson’s Disease and also in need of surgery to treat prostate cancer.

He is not alone. Tens of thousands of people live with these illnesses and 
the fact that the comedian has stated his determination to continue performing 
on stage and screen will 
give hope to those who believe – wrongly – that the diagnosis of either of these diseases is akin to a life sentence.

It is not. Sufferers can enjoy many years of happiness before Parkinson’s takes its grim toll, and it can only be hoped that Billy Connolly uses his unique communication skills to remind the Government that it has a duty to provide the best possible care to all victims and their loved ones. We wish him well.