Telecommunications (Repeal) Bill

A

B I L L

T O

Repeal the Telecommunications Act 2023.

BE IT ENACTED by the King’s most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:—

1 Repeals

(1) The Telecommunications Act 2023 is repealed.

(2) The Telecommunications (Devolved Providers) Act 2023 is repealed.

2 Extent

(1) Any amendment, repeal, or revocation made by this Act has the same extent as the provision amended, repealed, or revoked.

(2) Subject to subsection (1), this Act extends to England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland.

3 Commencement and short title

(1) This Act comes into force on the day which it is passed.

(2) This Act may be cited as the Telecommunications (Repeal) Act 2024.

This Bill is written by Her Grace the Duchess of Essex and is co-sponsored by the Marchioness Hebrides, Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media, and Sport, on behalf of the 34th Government.

• The Telecommunications Act 2023 (c. 107).
• The Telecommunications (Devolved Providers) Act 2023 (c. 119).

Madam Speaker,

The National Broadband Network was a great achievement of the Solidarity-Labour government that introduced it, and I believe most members of this House have rightly recognised that public utilities such as water, broadband, electricity, and the railways ought to be taken into the public ownership. It allows us to guarantee service to everyone in this country at a reasonable price, make sustainable investments in our infrastructure, and deliver service for people, not profits.

That is why this Bill is important—to ensure that a profit motive does not once more taint the provision of this utility. While I commend the authors of the Act that I now seek to repeal for their foresight in maintaining a public option, it is undeniable that privatising portions of our broadband network is a false economy. We will be faced with the reality of redundant investment, focusing our energies into duplicating existing service instead of putting our resources into delivering a better product.

The NBN is good for businesses, it is good for consumers, and it is good for this country. I want to see it stick around. I commend this Bill to the House.

This division ends at 10PM on Tuesday 30 January 2024.