Owen Jones insisted bringing BT into public ownership would be the “pragmatic” thing to do to and would bring the broadband system across the country up to date to meet the needs of the British public. The Labour Party announced they will bring full-fibre broadband access to all businesses and homes by 2030 should Jeremy Corbyn enter Number 10 after the December 12 election. But some social media users voiced their disagreement with the plan, with one user dismissing it as “absolute nonsense”.

Another user warned the cost of maintaining BT into public control would soon spiral out of control but quickly dismissed concerns as he expressed confidence in Labour not securing enough votes to install Mr Corbyn in Downing Street.

They wrote: “The cost will escalate, way beyond the figures Labour have in mind. I was at BT for 22 years and have witnessed just how phenomenally expensive these schemes are.

“But then Labour will never have to put it to the test.”

One user launched into a scathing attack of the proposal, writing on Twitter: “So Corbyn wants to privatise the electric board the gas board the water board the Royal Mail and now BT all paid for by the government otherwise known as the British taxpayer how much do they think this will all cost? Or is Diane Abbott doing the maths #LABOUR LIES

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“And doing all of this whilst at the same time promising to invest hundreds of millions into the NHS doctors surgery’s the police force the fire brigade the armed services combating the flood crisis, the Labour Party just jumping on to any crisis making false claims to win votes.”

Other users simply demanded the Labour Party, and the Government, concentrate on making broadband widely available to all users in the UK: “Why should it be provided free to every home and business and how would you stop people abusing it? It is the most ridiculous idea.

“Start by providing free optical and dental care, prescriptions, health clubs… and concentrate on getting broadband available all over the country.”

One woman echoed the sentiment, writing: “Just fix rural broadband and I’d be happy.”

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And one more user simply mocked the proposal, writing: “It will be powered with unicorn tears and magic.”

Mr Jones told Sky News nationalising BT would help the UK “unleash innovation” due to the end of competition between broadband providers, claiming the lack of full access was a sign of “market failure.”

The Labour activist said: “The whole point of this policy is that it would unleash innovation because, at the moment, the country is held back.

“If you think about broadband, it’s basically now the basic infrastructure underpinning our entire economy and our entire society, it frames our daily existence. How we work, how we relate to one another and it’s holding back the true potential of an entire country.

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“It’s another example of market failure, it’s a natural monopoly. So it makes sense to take it under public ownership to modernise it, to do what the state has failed to do as well as putting extra money in people’s pockets.”

He added: “People at the moment are paying through their noses for very poor service at the moment so I think it’s a very pragmatic way to modernise the infrastructure of this country, bring us to the level of other countries whose infrastructure is infinitely superior to our own.”

BT, which traces its history back to an 1846 telegraph company, was once one of Britain’s national champions but was privatised by Margaret Thatcher’s Conservative government in 1984.

Labour said the cost of nationalising parts of BT would be set by parliament and paid for by swapping bonds for shares.

“These are very, very ambitious ideas and the Conservative Party have their own ambitious idea for full fibre for everyone by 2025 and how we do it is not straight forward,” Chief Executive Philip Jansen told the BBC.

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