FASTER broadband will be introduced in some of the UK’s most remote areas as a result of a record £5 billion investment, the Chancellor is expected to announce in Wednesday’s Budget.

Gigabit broadband, which is 40 times faster than standard superfast broadband, will be delivered to the hardest-to-reach 20 per cent of the country, with more than five million homes and businesses benefitting.

The Conservatives pledged at the election to bring full-fibre and gigabit-capable broadband to every home and business in Britain within five years.
Chancellor Rishi Sunak is also expected to unveil a £1bn deal with the mobile phone industry that will see poor and patchy mobile coverage become “a thing of the past”. The Treasury said this will significantly boost 4G coverage, with the biggest improvements in Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales.

It said the deal will provide extra coverage to 280,000 premises and almost 100,000 miles of roads.

Mr Sunak said: “We are committed to levelling up across every region and nation in the UK, and that is why we are making the largest ever public investment into broadband. 

“This investment delivers on our promises to the British people, boosting growth and prosperity across the country.”

The pledge comes after the Scottish Government admitted the failure of its flagship £600 million plan to bring superfast broadband to every home and office in the country by the end of next year.

In January, Connectivity Minister Paul Wheelhouse told MSPs only around half of the premises in the R100 programme in south and central Scotland would be connected by 2021. He said the rest should be connected by the end of 2023.

The UK Budget will be unveiled on Wednesday, a week after the Scottish Government’s spending plans were passed at Holyrood following a deal between the SNP and the Greens.

Elsewhere, Mr Sunak said he is ready to take “targeted” measures to help businesses get through the coronavirus outbreak.

He suggested his financial plan would now focus on the “economic security” of the country, as he warned the economy could suffer a “supply shock” if lots of people fall ill.

Mr Sunak, who has been in office for less than a month, said he was “not daunted” by the challenge of protecting the UK’s finances in the event of a major Covid-19 outbreak.

Instead, he told the Sunday Telegraph the country is “well prepared” and would “emerge on the other side stronger”.

Mr Sunak also said he wanted “lower rates of tax” during his time in office.
The Chancellor told Sky’s Sophy Ridge On Sunday the Government stands ready to give the NHS “whatever it needs”, and there are “policy levers we can take to ease the short-term burden on businesses’ cashflow” in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak.

He refused to say whether he would stick to the fiscal rules set out in the Conservative manifesto, but told the Andrew Marr Show he believes “strongly in the importance of sound and responsible management of public finances”.

Mr Sunak also spoke about his arrival in No 11, which came after 
Sajid Javid quit the Cabinet when he was ordered to fire his aides. The former chancellor said at the time “no self-respecting” minister could have accepted the terms.

Asked about the remarks, Mr Sunak said: “He was in a different spot, he had an existing set of advisers, I come to it fresh so for me to be able to build my own team, which is what I’m doing, but have that team work closely with the Prime Minister’s team, is absolutely a good thing.”

Elsewhere, the Treasury said Mr Sunak’s Budget is set to double funding for flood defences south of the Border to £5.2bn. The investment will help to build 2,000 new flood and coastal defence schemes and better protect 336,000 properties in England over the next six years.

He said communities in Britain have been “hit hard” by severe flooding this winter, saying it is “right we invest to protect towns, families, and homes across the UK”. The UK has been battered by a string of storms over recent months, leading to severe flooding across the UK, particularly in Wales, south Yorkshire and the Midlands.

In Scotland, the Borders was the worst affected area.

The Chancellor is set to announce a £120m winter defence repair fund to fix assets damaged in the recent storms as quickly as possible. Mr Sunak is also expected to announce a £643 million package of investment to help rough sleepers off the streets and support them to get their lives back on track.

Meanwhile, up to £100m more per year will go towards the fight against “dirty money”, with a new levy on firms regulated for anti-money laundering.

The SNP has urged the UK Government to take urgent measures to help the tourism and hospitality industry mitigate the economic impact of coronavirus.

The party’s Westminster leader, Ian Blackford, called for a package of measures to ensure businesses are protected, including a temporary drop in the VAT rate to 5 per cent to help businesses reduce their costs.

He also said austerity is “impacting” public health and the UK Government has “got a responsibility” to end it.

Elsewhere, Labour shadow chancellor John McDonnell condemned the level of Government spending ahead of this week’s Budget, arguing “it’s nowhere near the scale we need”.

Mr McDonnell raised concerns the spending plans “will not deliver what we need in terms of the NHS”, as he warned it “has got to be the most important Budget since the Second World War”. He said that after “10 years of austerity... we’ve got inequality and poverty that we’ve not seen on a scale in this country”.

Speaking on The Andrew Marr Show, he said: “My advice to Rishi Sunak is don’t put things off.

“The worry I’ve got is that this Budget will not deliver what we need in terms of the NHS.”