Fears are mounting that the government's flagship Digital Economy Bill containing the controversial "telephone tax" is being left to the mercy of a last-minute scramble to finish off legislative business before Parliament is dissolved for a 6 May general election.

Commons leader and government business manager Harriet Harman was unable to reassure MPs when she delivered her agenda for the next two weeks on Thursday [11 March] without a slot for the Bill, due to receive its third reading or final approval in the Lords on Monday [15 March].

The Budget is due to be delivered on 24 March, tying up a large part of the following week with up to four days of detailed debate on chancellor Alistair Darling's proposals, including the proposal for a levy of 50p per month on telephone landline connections to fund the wider spread of next generation broadband.

Harman, also deputy leader of the Labour Party, told MPs: "We want to make sure we have the fastest broadband possible in all parts of the country and that the copyright system is modernised."

Questions about intended progress with the Digital Economy Bill were raised by Lib Dem business spokesman David Heath and ignored by Harman, who was then warned by a Tory backbencher that it would be "deeply unsatisfactory" for such an important measure to be rushed through the Commons without any scrutiny.

Observers are speculating that Prime Minister Gordon Brown will launch Labour's campaign at its Scottish conference on March 27 and go to the Queen to ask her to dissolve Parliament at any point thereafter up to Monday 12 April, but some expect him to do so on 1 April.

The chances are that the Digital Economy Bill will at most be given a second reading — overall approval — without MPs going through it line by line in committee, and the government will require Conservative approval to rush it through thereafter, giving the Tories and to an extent the Liberal Democrats the power to horse trade over which elements are let through and which are dropped.

That could be bad news for Google and other major opponents of a Tory and Lib Dem inspired amendment in the Lords giving copyright owners the right to go to court to compel ISPs to cut off infringing internet sites.

The levy is likely to be an election issue, with the Tories opposed in principle.
Prime Minister Gordon Brown complained in the Commons: "The Conservatives have made announcements that put the future of digitisation and broadband in this country at risk.

"We are determined that everyone in this country has access to broadband and access to the best services."