Public services 'bug' warning
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.THE Government should inject up to pounds 2bn into public sector services to prevent catastrophe as a result of the millennium computer bug, Liberal Democrats urged yesterday.
The party's Treasury spokesman Malcolm Bruce said the Government was not doing enough to tackle the problem and should immediately transfer between pounds 1bn and pounds 2bn from contingency reserves.
He warned: "There is no longer enough time to address the entire problem. Things will go wrong. What we must do now is to try to avoid catastrophe."
In March, Tony Blair, the Prime Minister announced a pounds 97m package of public money to help tackle the problem.
Mr Bruce said the Government was expecting public services to absorb the cost of the problem within existing budgets while also achieving political priorities such as National Health Service waiting lists.
He said: "The most obvious things they will target are life support systems but what about air traffic control systems, social services, local authority emergency services?
"There is a lot of evidence to suggest that there is a lot of panic in the middle ranks of the civil service but it has not permeated upwards," he added
Mr Bruce said the Government must heed warnings from computer experts about the scale of the problem, estimated to cost pounds 3bn to correct in the public sector. His plan of action included drawing up contingency plans for hospitals, energy supply and emergency services.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments