Conservatives criticise digital divide

12:34 30th September 2008

The Conservative Party has urged the government to do more to tackle the country's digital divide.

Tory front bench spokesman Jeremy Wright told a fringe meeting at the party conference in Birmingham that the private sector is helping to close the gap between those with access to the internet and those without.

Mr Wright also called for greater safeguards for people afraid to supply personal information online, indicating that there need to be guarantees that such data will only be used for the purpose that it was supplied.

The MP for Rugby insisted that online equality "does matter" because more and more government services are now online, which provides significant savings to departments.

Last week, Prime Minister Gordon Brown announced plans to give a home computer and broadband connection to one million of Britain's poorest families.

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