An early morning run on another cold day. Into the Commons for a busy day. A quick chat with the Chief Whip at 1030 over a matter I will reveal in time. I was seeking permission to be excused parliamentary duty to do it. I'm glad to say Mr Gove was very supportive. PMQs saw Nick Clegg and Harriet Harman locking horns, the Prime Minister being away. Neither party did themselves any favours and I don't trust a word that Mr Clegg utters. A working lunch writing my weekly column and then across to the Wilson Room in Portcullis House for my Efra select committee. Much joking about what each member was going to get up to during the session after one of our colleagues was caught playing a computer game at a recent committee. Today we once again looked at rural broadband, a very important topic, especially for farmers, who are going to have to claim EU subsidies on line as of May next year. First up was Andrew Clark, from the NFU, and George Dunn, from the Tenant Farmers' Association. They were both concerned that a car crash was pending as many farmers simply had no access to broadband at all. We learnt that South Dorset was one of the worst areas for broadband coverage in the country, with 39.1 per cent having superfast broadband. South Shields, for example, has 89.7 per cent. Fortuitously, we were able to direct the relevant questions to our next witness, Chris Townsend, the chief executive of Broadband Delivery UK, a unit with the Department of Culture, Media and Sport, created to implement the Government's broadband policies. He got short shrift from Neil Parish MP, whose constituency has only 8.6 per cent coverage. Mr Townsend banged on about 90 per cent coverage for all the Uk by the end of 2016, but that target appears unachievable when you look at the facts and the huge areas, mainly rural, that don't have it. Finally, the Minister, George Eustice, took his seat and gave an accomplished performance, reassuring me that farmers who can't register on line by next May will not lose their single farm payment. Let's watch this space! This is a big issue and I can see trouble ahead. Back to my office where I worked through to the evening and then down to Dorset.