Don’t Ban and Confiscate Cars and Motorcycles

Bikers at the 45th annual conference of The Motorcycle Action Group (MAG) on Saturday firmly stuck two leather-clad fingers up at extremist shadow transport secretary Rebecca Long-Bailey and her plan to confiscate private motor vehicles.

MAG overwhelmingly passed a series of seven resolutions committing MAG to –
·         Campaigning for choice in personal transport and against Teresa May’s proposed ban on internal-combustion-engine (ICE) vehicles from 2040 or any other date;
·         Calling the extremists bluff that an all-electric fleet is a viable option;
·         Campaigning for improvement and extension of electrically powered public transport systems via trains trams and trolley buses so that people are offered a realistic choice thereby achieving a voluntary reduction in the use of private vehicles;
·         Campaigning against the introduction of self-driving vehicles on UK roads as an unacceptable hazard, particularly to motorcyclists and cyclists.

The resolutions’ author, former MAG National Chairman and Castleford Independent Financial Adviser Neil Liversidge said:

“The banning of ICE vehicles is an idea which came out of the London political bubble in the time of the UK’s worst-ever Prime Minister Teresa May.  London is generally a flat city with the best public transport in the country. Most of the rest of the country has a fair proportion of hills and nothing to compare with London in the way of buses or subway trains.”

“We recognise that transport needs to change given the UK’s dense population, but dictatorial measures such as banning and confiscating ICE vehicles are not the way to do it. Put in a proper public transport system so people have a real choice, and let them keep their bikes and cars and way of life.  A lot is talked these days about respecting different cultures. Well, we have a culture and we demand it be respected also. ICE vehicles have brought massive benefits to millions of people that electric vehicles will never realistically bring.”

“The politicians seem to have forgotten that they can only get away with their plan if the people allow them to stay in power.  We are going to campaign against parliamentary candidates, regardless of party, who support the banning of ICE vehicles.  If they aren’t in parliament and in government, it’s not going to happen.  We’re going to make sure they aren’t.  We think they’ll pretty soon get the message.  With the political changes that this country has seen in the last few years, there is no such thing as a safe parliamentary seat anymore.”

“People have realised in the last few years that they have taken too much for too long from politicians who don’t really represent them at all.  This is the people pushing back. And it’s only the beginning.”