Rural inequality

TELEGRAPH CAMPAIGN Better broadband

The urbanisation of Britain continues apace, almost, it seems, as a deliberate ambition of public policy.

According to the latest State of Rural Services report, people living in the English countryside are constrained from building up their own businesses because in many cases they cannot even make a simple mobile phone call. One third of rural buildings on four major networks are affected by a problem that is almost unknown in urban premises. A 4G connection, essential for anyone wishing to work online, cannot be accessed in 58 per cent of countryside buildings.

Rural dwellers are used to having fewer amenities and services than towns and cities, but what they do have is gradually being chipped away at. Public transport, for instance, has in many parts of the countryside disappeared altogether. In 2017, 200 bus services were withdrawn from shire districts and another 200 reduced. Less public funding is directed towards rural residents than urban areas, despite the higher cost of providing essential services such as social care, education and public transport in rural parts.

The inability for many in the countryside to access superfast broadband compounds the problem. The ability to get online is no longer a luxury, it is essential – not only for those wanting to launch a small business but, increasingly, just to access public services. Soon, GP services will all be digitised, making connectivity essential, especially for older people. Broadband is now a utility like gas, electricity and water and needs to be provided in the same way. Rural England has been losing out for years, but the decline will become permanent unless a Conservative Government can make its revival a priority.