Labours Broadband proposal...
- Thread starter Tooter
- Start date
Louis MacNeice
Autumn Journalist
More sad role play and idiot hyperbole. Please get another hobby or get better at this one.
Cheers - Louis MacNeice
Yeah, their other issues like banning private schools seems like a winner.
A380
How do I change this 'custom title' thing then?
I used to drive one of those. And I had the course to climb poles but only did it for real about half a dozen times.who remembers waiting months for the GPO to install a telephone line?
It’s really hard to tell whether that’s a meme or a genuine Labour pledge.
mx wcfc
Well-Known Member
well, yes, as long as they present it properly, and how exactly is free broadband for everyone such a bad idea, when the private sector has completely failed for so many years?
Fuck sake.
littlebabyjesus
one of Maxwell's demons
It's a shame if they've got their numbers wrong, if they have - surprised tbh, they'll have paid someone to do numbers for them. But that isn't really the important point within a policy announcement like this. Universal provision by a state-owned provider is the most efficient, cheapest way to do it, and given that this is something nearly everyone is going to want, providing a thing nearly everyone is going to want in the cheapest way possible is actually the only sane way to think of providing it.What?
They are planning to take-over the current Openreach network, with 32,000 employees and a promise of no job loses, expand it & make it free for everyone, wipe out the likes of Virgin & Cityfibre, taking on even more customers, yet reckon it'll cost 1/10th of the current costs - that's frankly fucking nuts.
* NB Openreach only operates & maintains the network, they also plan to take over other parts of BT, such as BT Retail, or whatever they call it this year, which brings even more costs.
planetgeli
There's no future in England's dreaming
God forbid they piss off the richest 7% of the population eh?
littlebabyjesus
one of Maxwell's demons
Free at the point of provision, paid for out of general taxation. You know, like schools and hospitals and roads and that.
It’s not free broadband (ffs).
Correct, tax payer funded.
brogdale
Coming to terms with late onset Anarchism
No, it really is.
It’s not free broadband (ffs).
littlebabyjesus
one of Maxwell's demons
Oh christ, are you going to go all TAXPAYER ALLIANCE on us?
Well I pay taxes and I say hooray!
Those who don't pay so much tax can also say hooray! And they get the same number of votes as you.
Well I pay taxes and I say hooray!
Those who don't pay so much tax can also say hooray! And they get the same number of votes as you.
YouSir
Retired from Urban
Something that everyone is fully aware of. Really weird and repetitive argument from the right tbh - acting as if everyone but them is so stupid that they're not aware that free at the point of use still means tax-payer funded.
agricola
a genuine importer of owls
What?
They are planning to take-over the current Openreach network, with 32,000 employees and a promise of no job loses, expand it & make it free for everyone, wipe out the likes of Virgin & Cityfibre, taking on even more customers, yet reckon it'll cost 1/10th of the current costs - that's frankly fucking nuts.
* NB Openreach only operates & maintains the network, they also plan to take over other parts of BT, such as BT Retail, or whatever they call it this year, which brings even more costs.
Again, they said maintenance of the network. They didn't say "and the cost of running British Broadband will be £230 million" (or at least if they did, I didn't hear it).
mx wcfc
Well-Known Member
Well, I'm a taxpayer too. As a taxpayer I fund all sorts of stuff - the NHS, education, roads, the army - you know that sort of stuff. Broadband is important to this country's productivity, and society. The "private" sector has failed.
YouSir
Retired from Urban
From what I can find their costings are based on a report for the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. None of the news sites I've glanced at seem to have read that report to the point where they've bothered to elaborate on it but presumably it's got some value to it. Certainly I didn't find anything in my quick search which gave any kind of detailed breakdown of costs either way - it just seems like random figures are being thrown out and weighted according to the publication. Some pushing the Tories estimate, others BT's, some, presumably, the report/Labour's. Although I didn't see any giving that primacy.
cupid_stunt
Chief seagull hater & farmerbarleymow's nemesis.
Well they can't keep on 32,000 staff & maintain the network for £230m pa, unless they cut the staff salaries to around £3k a year.
As I said in my first post, I like the idea of providing a proper national network, but promising that for free is nuts, cheaper yes, but not free.
Water for free would seem well ahead of providing broadband for free.
Or, if there's a spare £2bn a year available, let's spend that on schools, the NHS & care services.
littlebabyjesus
one of Maxwell's demons
There's also a really sound business case to be made for infrastructure improvements like this, of course. Same goes for improving rail, etc. That's the thing about privatisation mania - it's really crap for capitalism ultimately.
cupid_stunt
Chief seagull hater & farmerbarleymow's nemesis.
You're not making any sense!
Maintenance of the network involves people to maintain it, currently 32,000.
littlebabyjesus
one of Maxwell's demons
It's not either/or, though, is it? And schools, the NHS and care services would also benefit from improved infrastructure.
And that also misses the point about universal provision. Universal provision is the only way to ensure social justice in the distribution of modern infrastructure like this.
Universal provision, generally, has been under attack for decades. I welcome its return to the discussion beyond just schools and the NHS. We should be more ambitious than just wanting good, free schools and hospitals.
As said above the private sector has failed so please let us know how the staff will do under a disgraced Tory government
Attachments
YouSir
Retired from Urban
Have you read the report that was done for government department that they drew their figures from?
YouSir
Retired from Urban
Again, the right wing semantic pedantry really doesn't serve any purpose.
brogdale
Coming to terms with late onset Anarchism
OK...how about you re-compose the headline into a form that you find acceptable.
littlebabyjesus
one of Maxwell's demons
Either you've just fallen from space, or you think the rest of us have. Either way, fuck off with this boring shit.
cupid_stunt
Chief seagull hater & farmerbarleymow's nemesis.
Right, so free broadband is more important than free water or free heating! 
FFS, get a grip you lot.
FFS, get a grip you lot.
Right, so free broadband is more important than free water or free heating!
FFS, get a grip you lot.
Good point as we’ll be spending more time at home with the heat on once we get down to a 4 day work week under Labour.
Raheem
Well-Known Member
Funny how you never hear them complain about the phrase "at no cost to the taxpayer".
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