Digital Britain plans fall by the wayside

The majority of the flagship reforms envisaged in the government's much-vaunted Digital Britain initiative to "reboot" the British economy have been abandoned as ministers turned their attention to fighting the general election.

The government late on Wednesday night ditched proposals to fund regional television news in its digital economy bill, which was supposed to implement much of the initiative. Several Digital Britain measures have been dropped because of Tory opposition, industry resistance or lack of legislative time. The one significant reform to survive is a crackdown on online piracy, but the plans bear little resemblance to the government's original proposals. The crackdown has been strengthened, and MPs approved the slimmed-down digital economy bill on Wednesday night.