As part of a whistle-stop tour of the Penrith & the Border constituency, Caroline Spelman, Secretary of State and Jim Paice, Minister of State for Defra paid a visit to Great Asby Broadband today. Accompanied by Rory Stewart, MP, members of their teams and the NFU, they spent about 40 minutes in the Village Hall hearing about the development and future aspirations of GAB and discussing the many challenges and other issues arising from rural broadband. As well as from me they heard from parish councillors, farmers and other subscribers about how important good quality broadband is to people in rural settings. It was not just about farmers communicating with Defra, but the day to day work of other businesses and residents keeping in touch with family and friends locally and around the world, conducting business online and, not least, placing their order with Asda for home delivery!
The Secretary of State congratulated Great Asby Broadband on its achievements to date and wished us well for the future.
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| L to R Miles Mandelson, Caroline Spelman, Jim Paice, Rory Stewart |
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| Looking at photos of the network |
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| Piers Palmer (right) explains how we acquired our backhaul |
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| An attentive audience. Centre to R: Peter & Liz Rogerson, Craig Brass, Graham Parkin |
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| The debate continues. L to R: Jim Paice, Mike Clayton, Graham Parkin, Caroline Spelman |
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