We can’t pay for the disabled to have a room to live but we can give money hand over fist to BT

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As the Guardian reports this morning:

Plans to roll out superfast broadband in rural areas are in chaos because government mismanagement has given BT a near-monopoly in the market, a report has found.

The report, by the Commons public accounts committee, came as Labour questioned why Ian Livingston, the head of BT when the contracts were signed, was made a peer and a trade minister in June.

In its report, the MPs said the Department for Culture, Media and Sport allowed BT to profit from £1.2bn of taxpayers' assets after no other companies won a single contract to increase broadband coverage across Britain.

BT has been quick to exploit its position by refusing to reveal costs to civil servants or coverage to local councils, the MPs said. This information would be crucial in guaranteeing that BT's bids are reasonably priced and fair for the public.

As a result, the committee has taken the unusual step of calling for the department to halt payments of a further £250m until ministers and civil servants introduce competition and value for money.

And they're right to do so. The state will not now pay for disabled people to have the room they need to live. But it will pay for BT's monopoly profits, for which they will not account.

There is something very wrong when we have a society where this is possible.


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