Just my opinion and apologies if any political allegiances shine through in this following blog rant (these are not the views of markettiers4dc) but our Chancellor is hardly a 'Darling' of the online world as he confirmed in this morning's Pre-Budget report that he will be introducing a new broadband tax next year of £6 a year

Whilst 50p a month may not sound much to begin with, the question is how long will it be before this new tax becomes an easy target to be increased in future budgets just like petrol or alcohol, should Labour win the next election? The alleged use of the money will be to help rural areas of the UK gain access to super-fast broadband with a target reach of 90% of the population by the end of 2017. However, this figure is estimated to fall way short of what is required to achieve that goal - http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/8403273.stm - and so it will surely be only a matter of time before Mr Darling comes knocking on our virtual doors for more cash?

Now I have no objection to my hard earned taxed cash going to help those in hard to reach parts of the UK connecting to the web in super fast time so they can join in this very blog debate, but didn’t he also announce today that our National Insurance contributions are going up, oh, and VAT is back up again too? Sure, these other increases are earmarked for other expenses . . . ah, there's a word we could debate too. I wonder if Mr Darling will expense his broadband connection so that he can work from home a little more - after all, what's an additional £6 when you've already been accused of claiming over £70,000 - http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1145574/Alistair-Darling-accused-doing-Jacqui-Smith-lavishing-70-000-family-home.html