Michael Fabricant MP Conservative MP for Lichfield. Member of the All Party Internet Group. Member of EURIM. Member of the Parliamentary Information Technology Committee. Currently he is a Whip, before becoming a Wip he was Shadow Minister for Economic Affairs with responsibilities overlapping Trade & Industry and the Treasury. His work included 'shadowing' E-Commerce, Technology, and The Post Office. Has a PhD in economics. First entered Parliment in 1992.

Issues

Freedom of Information

Signed Early Day Motion 2699 Freedom of Information 10 December 2006

That this House welcomes the finding of the Constitutional Affairs Committee (HC991) that the Freedom of Information Act has `already brought about the release of significant new information and....this information is being used in a constructive and positive way' and the committee's conclusion that it sees `no need to change' the Act's charging arrangements; views with concern reports that the Government is considering changing these arrangements to permit an application fee to be charged for all requests or to allow authorities to refuse, on cost grounds, a significant proportion of requests which they currently must answer; and considers that such changes could undermine the Act's benefits of increased openness, accountability and trust in the work of public authorities.

Broadband

Wrote Early Day Motion 50 Access to the internet 23 November 2004

That this House calls on the Government to acknowledge that, while it has announced that broadband coverage is approaching 95 per cent. of the population, it is still mainly at data speeds which are so slow that in other countries they would not be recognised as being broadband; notes that less than half the population has access to the internet in their homes; further notes that information technology skills in the UK are the lowest in the most recent OECD list of skills in developed countries; and calls on the Government to be less complacent and self-congratulatory about the development of broadband in Britain.

Wrote Early Day Motion 70 Internet Access 26 November 2003

That this House supports the widening ease of internet access, but regrets that The International Telecommunications Union recently found that in the 40 top countries in the world, Britain has fallen to 12th place; further regrets that the Government claims that it is leading the way in internet access, even though Britain has fallen behind countries such as Sweden, Denmark and Norway; and believes that unless this trend is reversed there could be serious damage to Britain's long-term economic prospects, that the Government is taking insufficient initiatives to promote internet take-up and that its appalling record in providing e-Government does little to encourage others.

Links

Michael Fabricant MP Website
Michael Fabricant MP TheyWorkForYou.com
Michael Fabricant MP Wikipedia
Michael Fabricant MP Conservative Profile
Michael Fabricant MP Early Day Motion