This story has appeared in many newspapers.

I can't see that getting much support.

 
And it should not!

What many overlook is that our roads are transport infrastructure, and our economy and society depend on people, businesses and services being able to get around the country efficiently.

If speeds are reduced in this way, rural businesses will find that deliveries of supplies and of goods and services will take longer, meaning that they will have to employ more drivers and use larger fleets of vehicles thereby increasing their costs, which have to be passed on to customers by way of higher prices, and if this cannot be done, the businesses will fail. Don’t forget that 55-60% of our food is domestically produced, so even if you live in a town or suburb and shop at your local supermarket it will affect you. The cost of essential services, such as social services, health and veterinary care will similarly have to increase as the number of home visits decreases because fewer can be undertaken as doctors, social and care workers and vets and those delivering supplies to them spend longer travelling rather than actually delivering their services. It will take longer for children to get to and from school, whether by bus or car.

Of course, we need to have safe roads, and properly thought-out speed limits are essential for this. But it is a damning indictment of our society, media and education system that on the 200th anniversary of the first public railway service, which helped bring about a revolution in the increase in speed and volume of people and goods being moved and reduction in cost per mile, that no-one mentions the essential function of our transport infrastructure in our modern society. Road transport is its lifeblood, and there are vast areas of the country and transport requirement where there is no practical alternative to road transport. Much as I believe in getting as many passengers and as much freight on trains as possible, anything that impedes road transport unnecessarily will cost us all.