Tories call for more action on digital divide

The Tories want more action from the government over the digital divide

The Conservative Party is urging the government to do more to tackle the digital divide.

Tory front-bench spokesman Jeremy Wright told a fringe meeting organised by Online Services at the party conference in Birmingham that the market is helping to close the gap between those with access to the internet and those without, thanks to an increasing number of web-enabled mobile devices.

Wright said that online equality "does matter" because more and more government services are being made available online with considerable savings to departments.

The money saved could be used to help deal with the problem of lack of internet access, whether caused by geographical or sociological reasons.

Wright also called for greater reassurance for people who are afraid to supply personal information online, including credit card details. He said there need to be guarantees that such data will be used only for the purpose for which it is supplied.

Prime minister Gordon Brown announced plans at the Labour conference last week to give a home computer and broadband connection to one million of Britain's poorest families.