The Spectator

Letters | 30 May 2013

HS2 v broadband

Sir: Rory Sutherland (The Wiki Man, 25 May) is rightly sceptical of HS2, but in limiting his remarks only to the transport of people, he is still too kind. Why spend 20 years building Victorian technology when the infrastructure of the future will be a broadband network of far greater capacity than exists now? The internet has revolutionised the distribution of most services and the production of some products. New technologies like 3D printing are on the cusp of transforming the location of industry and the distribution of manufactures, which could benefit depressed areas far more than HS2. These technologies require the downloading of vast amounts of data at speeds with which the existing UK broadband capacity cannot yet cope. Those who campaign to stop HS2 would have a far better case if they argued the money be spent on building a high-capacity infrastructure that will connect every citizen to millions of points for millions of purposes in virtual zero time. There is a petition on the Downing Street website asking the government to cancel HS2 and spend the money on broadband capacity. I urge anyone interested in the UK’s future prosperity to sign it.
Matthew Quirk
Chiddingstone, Kent

A very public enquiry

Sir: Peter Jones (25 May) is right to draw an unfavourable comparison between ancient and modern democracy, but he is focusing on the wrong institution. The Athenian council was merely the secretariat for the general assembly, and the legislation passed by the assembly was often as erratic as modern referenda. After the restoration of democracy in 403 bc, legislation was entrusted to nomothetai — large randomly selected juries that, unlike modern parliamentarians, were obliged to listen to the arguments of well-informed advocates for and against the proposed law before deciding the outcome by secret vote.

If David Cameron wants the people to decide whether or not to remain in the EU, he should institute an adversarial public enquiry.

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