MARK HARPER MP, together with his Conservative colleagues voted against the Government’s new tax on telephone landlines following this week’s Budget debates.

Commenting, Mark said:

“Time and again we have stressed that we don’t need this tax to fund fast broadband for everyone. We have set out in detail our plans to provide the infrastructure and incentives we have seen work in other countries to bring high speed broadband to everyone in the country by 2017, using part of the TV licence fee to ensure this is delivered to rural areas.

"Time and again the Government has ignored us and now a lot of people, many of whom don’t even use broadband, are going to be lumbered with a tax that isn’t even necessary. We can’t go on like this. The Government cannot be allowed to keep finding excuses to take people’s money to cover their reckless spending.”