I’m assuming this is genuine
“
THE RT. HON. JACOB REES-MOGG M.P.
MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT FOR NORTH EAST SOMERSET
HOUSE OF COMMONS
LONDON
SW1A OAA
17th February 2023
Thank you for your correspondence about "fifteen-minute cities" and "twenty-minute neighbourhoods'
I am grateful to you for letting me know your views. However, I am in agreement with Nick Fletcher, M.P. The idea of a twenty-minute neighbourhood ignores the advantages of an increased speed of travel so is purely an anti-car policy. The local authorities who have implemented such schemes are similar in outlook to our own Liberal Democrat Council, who seem to delight in making life as difficult for the motorist as possible.
The neighbourhoods of old were natural creations not diktats. They were limited in scope by the speed of walking or riding, only a misplaced nostalgia makes them appear attractive. In the moderr: world the car brings freedom and the opportunity to visit places that are not within a twenty-minute walk. The circumference of the twenty-minute journey has been massively increased by the motorcar to the transformative benefit of the economy and people's freedom. If you can average thirty miles an hour in twenty minutes, you can travel ten miles in any direction; if you walk at three miles an hour, you can only go one mile in any direction in the same amount of time. This means you can. visit an area 100 times larger. This increases the number of friends who can be visited and provides a greater choice of the shops and facilities that you use. Businesses can specialise more which improves the quality of service. This has been of fundamental economic importance. Stopping people using their car is economically damaging through the deprivation of choice. If people wish to live with less technology that is their prerogative but I will always oppose those who wish to take away our freedoms and prosperity.
With every good wish,
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