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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Politics
Lizzy Buchan

Awkward moment broadband minister's internet cuts out as he hails 'huge progress'

A Tory minister suffered on-air connection problems after boasting about the "huge progress" made rolling out broadband across the UK.

Digital Minister Matt Warman was in the middle of a live radio interview about broadband when his internet appeared to cut out.

The embarrassing on-air glitch prompted astonishment from LBC presenter Nick Ferrari, who said: "This is handy as you're the broadband minister.

"You can't hear me, can you? That is sensational and the picture's frozen.

"So there we go, we've got the Government banging on about however many billon pounds' worth it is of... gigabit and he can't take the question.

"You can't hear me but I'll be polite, Matt Warman, minister for digital, culture, media and sport, talking about the progress of broadband and the line collapses, but thank you for your time."

Before his line cut out, Mr Warman said the proportion of people accessing gigabit-capable broadband has risen from 9% to 70% in the last three years.

He said: "That is huge progress at a pace that was way above what we were hoping for when we set those targets in 2019, so really good news, but of course there are still 30% of people that we are working as fast as we possibly can to get to - and that pace shows that we're going to get to them as quickly as we possibly can."

Digital Minister Matt Warman (Anthony Devlin)

He admitted there is "a lot of work to do" but added: "The pace that's got us to where we are today is a huge sign of intent and the things that are to come."

Lame-duck Prime Minister Boris Johnson is due to break cover today in a desperate bid to secure a legacy after just three years in power.

Mr Johnson is due to visit a broadband project in rural Dorset as he marks his last days in office.

But his trip risks highlighting another broken election vow to deliver high speed connections to the entire country.

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