EALING Southall MP, Virendra Sharma, is backing a campaign to require low-cost broadband for families on low incomes.

Bristol North West MP, Darren Jones is introducing the Internet Access Ten Minute Rule Bill, which calls on the Government to use existing powers to provide a 'social tariff' for broadband for families with children eligible for free school meals.

According to the House of Commons library, these proposals would mean that the 1.4 million children eligible for free schools meals across the country could benefit from low-cost broadband that would cost between £10-15 per month.

Mr Sharma said: "This pandemic has highlighted the digital poverty that exists in our country, with many children currently forced to learn from home without access to the internet.

"If Ministers introduced a social tariff that would mean that 2,834 children in Ealing Southall could benefit from low-cost internet access at home.

"The Government has the power to act now and it should get on with it."

Helen Milner OBE, the Chief Executive of the Good Things Foundation – the country's leading digital inclusion charity – is backing the campaign and said: "We are supporting Darren Jones' call for a social tariff for broadband, which we believe will make a fundamental difference for many children and low-income households across the country.

"By offering routes to low-cost internet access, we can ensure that no parent will have to choose between feeding their children or helping them to learn online."

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