Ed Vaizey says he wants an open Internet

On Wednesday, he seemed to push aside the principles of net neutrality â€" the fair and equal treatment of all Internet traffic â€" in the belief that a system of two-tiered net access might be necessary to raise funds to pay for the expansion of mobile networks in particular.

According to the BBC, Vaizey said: "We have got to continue to encourage the market to innovate and experiment with different business models and ways of providing consumers with what they want."

The Telegraph published first thing this morning

In his interview with the Telegraph published first thing this morning, he insists that: "My first and overriding priority is an open Internet where consumers have access to all legal content. Should the Internet develop in a way that was detrimental to consumer interests we would seek to intervene."

He continued: "The marker I wanted to put down is that at the moment I don't think heavy handed regulation is necessary. I'm saying we're not going to put regulatory hurdles in the way â€" the last 20 years have told us not to do that. What I announced as far as I was concerned was business as usual â€" an important statement that the government was alive to these issues and prepared to intervene in the future."