Ms Long-Bailey said people with “childcare or caring responsibilities” could work from home even if they are in rural areas. But social media users hit out at the plans as one said: “Paints harmonious picture of a hyper-connected society doing great things in the digital future. Speech devoid of even a sliver of detail on how this will be delivered.”

Speaking at Lancaster University, Ms Long-Bailey said: “Reports have estimated that over a million more people could work from home with full fibre.

“Imagine if all those currently shut out of the Labour market such as those with childcare or caring responsibilities.

“Those unfairly disadvantaged due to disability or older people.

“Imagine if they could participate fully through fast internet access wherever they are in the country.

“When more people are able to work from home it has clear environmental benefits too.

“If one million people do so that would be an estimated 300 million fewer commuter trips, 3 billion kilometres fewer travelled by car and 360,000 tonnes fewer carbon dioxide emissions in the UK.”

Other social media users wrote on Twitter hitting out at the ideas.

Another said: “Now listening to Rebecca Long Bailey saying how she understands the need for secure broadband. Hacked on Tuesday, taking over the internet on Friday.”

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said: “It will save the average household £30 a month on bills.

“Just 8% to 10% of the UK has access to full-fibre broadband, compared to 98% in South Korea. Something clearly isn’t working.

“So, under our plans, we will create a new public enterprise – and we’ll call it British Broadband.

“British Broadband will oversee a publicly-owned full-fibre network and deliver free broadband to every home, with a phased roll-out over ten years.

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“To do that we will bring the relevant parts of BT, including Openreach, into public ownership.

“By creating British Broadband as a public service, we will lead the world in using public investment to transform our country, reduce people’s monthly bills, boost our economy and improve people’s quality of life.

“And it will have national security benefits too.”

Mr Corbyn said the Conservatives’ policy is “a low-budget option using old copper cables that are already out of date”.

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