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If Corbyn had won we’d have had free broadband by 2030

As in we would have had it.

15 November 2019:

General election 2019: Labour pledges free broadband for all

Labour has promised to give every home and business in the UK free full-fibre broadband by 2030, if it wins the general election.

The party would nationalise part of BT to deliver the policy and introduce a tax on tech giants to help pay for it.

Shadow chancellor John McDonnell told the BBC the “visionary” £20bn plan would “ensure that broadband reaches the whole of the country”.

28 May 2020:

No more free petrol, Maduro tells Venezuelans

Venezuela’s socialist government says it is ending its policy of allowing motorists to fill up with free petrol as the country confronted an economic meltdown.

“Petrol must be paid for,” said President Maduro in a state TV address. He described the change, euphemistically, as a “normalisation and regularisation plan.”

13 comments to If Corbyn had won we’d have had free broadband by 2030

  • Eric

    He described the change, euphemistically, as a “normalisation and regularisation plan.”

    Why is that a euphemism? Seems pretty accurate to me.

  • APL

    “Free broadband by 2020.”

    But you’d have to wait three months to get on line and then only be allowed 1Kb of data exchange.

  • Mr Ed

    APL

    But you’d have to wait three months to get on line and then only be allowed 1Kb of data exchange.

    Let me FTFY

    But you’d have to wait three months to get on line, share it with a neighbour, and then only be allowed to see ‘safe’ websites, including a nostalgic discussion of the 1983 Labour Manifesto.

    Other than that, Corbynism has triumphed, the Conservatives have become the Bolivirusans, and have done more damage in 10 weeks that Labour has managed in over a century of the Labour Movement.

  • Johnathan Pearce (London)

    We dodged a massive bullet last December when this lot got hammered at the polls, but let’s not simply weigh our current mess by comparing it to how much worse it would have been under Mr Corbyn and his fellow socialists. For a start, I’d like an unambiguous statement from the current government that the HS2 rail project is not going ahead for the forseeable future, given the crap state of the public purse, and that instead the focus will be on liberating business from red tape, keep as much of a lid on tax as possible, no more of these bloody “green” measures that drive up costs, etc.

    And further to the post below this one, let’s definitely open the UK doors to Hong Kongers with passports. Like the Indians who fled Uganda in the 70s, or the Hugenots in the 17th Century, they’ll be a massive boon to the UK and prove that leaving the EU or somesuch empire isn’t about pulling up drawbridges.

  • they’ll be a massive boon to the UK (Johnathan Pearce (London), May 30, 2020 at 11:39 am)

    I tend to agree.

    and prove that leaving the EU or some such empire isn’t about pulling up drawbridges.

    We don’t need to prove that and it is an utter waste of time to try. The people who pretend to be in doubt of it will never accept any kind of proof. Their ‘doubts’ are their racket, in every possible sense.

  • Paul Marks

    The socialist regime in Venezuela still hands out free oil – but to CUBA, not to the people of Venezuela.

    By the way the socialists seem to be unable to refine their oil into petrol – they had to beg the Iranians for aid (in return for what little gold Venezuela has left).

    As for Mr Corbyn and the Labour Party – only a few months ago I was attacking them on the doorsteps during the General Election campaign.

    Then I was betrayed (stabbed in the back) by the party I had served for 40 years (very Biblical) – and a couple of months later the “Lockdown” regime betrayed this country.

    Now my own words in support of the Conservative Party in that election campaign, are like ashes in my mouth.

    Yes my words against the socialists were true – but that is no comfort in “Lockdown” Britain.

  • I suppose the message is that socialism doesn’t just run out of other people’s money. Socialists also run out of their own oil.

  • Mr Ed

    JP:

    We dodged a massive bullet last December when this lot got hammered at the polls, but let’s not simply weigh our current mess by comparing it to how much worse it would have been under Mr Corbyn and his fellow socialists.

    I think that we have now been hit by the ricochet of that bullet. If this government isn’t socialist, what is it? The first question ‘from the public’ chosen for last Friday’s press conference with the Chancellor was Putinesque in set-up, with a question about how with the fall in CO2 emissions under lockdown, this great news will be carried on once lockdown ends, with the Chancellor gushing forth about the Green agenda.

    Corbyn probably wouldn’t have been any different to this regime, except that he might not have thought it wise to move so fast to total tyranny.

  • Aristion

    What’s this total tyranny you refer to then? In lockdown Britain you can go outside an unlimited amount of times. Even at the height of the restrictions you could go shopping as many times as you wanted for food and essentials.

    What exactly is so awful about the current restrictions? I think most people recognise them as pretty sensible in the context of a global pandemic. Certainly there’s an argument to be had about whether or not the pandemic is as serious as it was thought to be but I am not aware that the authorities are interfering with people’s right to have that debate.

    Hyperbole just makes libertarian people less credible.

  • Mr Ed

    Ariston

    In lockdown Britain you can go outside an unlimited amount of times.

    Really? You provide no basis for that assertion, unsurprisingly, as it is baseless. The presumption in the law is that you may not go outside the place that you are living.

    You don’t even, on the face of it, appear to know that the law differs around ‘Britain’ as you call it, there is in law, no such place.

    Your ignorance, feigned or not, of the basics, is remarkable. Try harder next time.

  • Mr Ed (May 31, 2020 at 7:44 pm) and Aristion (May 31, 2020 at 5:57 pm), the current rules say you can go outside to walk or cycle an unlimited number of times a day in Scotland and England for your mere selfish pleasure. Not only that, but here in Scotland anyone can drive an entire 5 miles from their house before beginning their walk, should anyone wish to indulge themselves so far. And not only can one pause in one’s walk, one can sit down – though it’s a little unclear if picnicking while sat down is legal.

    In England (lucky you!), you can drive an unlimited distance – provided you then drive the same distance back again before the end of the day, since you are forbidden to stay anywhere but your lockdown residence overnight. And in both countries it is legal to shop (in any shop that’s allowed to be open).

    I forget how Wales and Northern Ireland differ – not much, I assume.

    Perhaps there are locked-down countries who envy us this glorious liberty. 🙂 I certainly envy you not having the 5-mile limit.

  • Mr Ed

    Niall K

    ‘the current rules’

    They are no ‘rules’, there is legislation. If you conflate legislation with guidance, you end up with a false impression of the situation. The courts apply the legislation, they may take guidance into account, but you cannot know if you are breaking the law or not as it is written.

  • Nullius in Verba

    “The presumption in the law is that you may not go outside the place that you are living.”

    Wrong.

    “During the emergency period, no person may leave the place where they are living without reasonable excuse.

    “Reasonable excuse” gives a lot of leeway. It can’t be just because you want to, or because it makes things more convenient for you. But it allows you to conduct essential business. It allows you to deal with emergencies, to flee danger, to ensure safety and survival, to seek medical treatment, to go shopping for essentials, to go to work, to care for the vulnerable, even daily exercise. It allows for the use of common sense.

    You can go out whenever you need to.