The British Motorcycling Federation (BMF) is calling on all riders to act now. We need you take part in the National Motorcycling Council (NMC)/BMF’s election campaign to put motorcycling front and centre of the next government’s future transport policy so as to ensure a bright and sustainable future for UK motorcycling.

Over the course of the six-week election campaign, the motorcycling community has a real opportunity to influence Prospective Parliamentary Candidates of all parties to ensure that we put motorcycling fully on the map in all parliamentary constituencies in advance of the General Election.

The BMF has been working hard over many months with our key partners, including the NMC, to gear up for the General Election, engaging closely with Ministers and officials, and with key members of the opposition parties, to fight for riders’ rights and to put forward our priorities for motorcycling, which are now set out in the Manifesto Motorcycling Matters. Our overarching objective is to agree a new motorcycle strategy with the future government, which will see motorcycling fully mainstreamed into future UK transport policy.

There are a number of challenges and opportunities facing the motorcycling industry over the coming years. Importantly, we will need to work with a future government to ensure that the road to “net zero” is proportionate, pragmatic and realistic, not only realising the opportunities for increased electric mobility across our sector but also taking into account the fact that internal combustion engine (ICE) Powered Two Wheelers (PTW) contribute just 0.46% to the UK’s overall domestic transport emissions. Mopeds and motorcycles have an important transitional role to play in accelerating towards net zero and we call for all political parties to embrace a variety of current and developing emissions-reducing technologies, including e-fuels and hydrogen, in order that rider choice can be maintained for a range of diverse journey types as government decarbonisation plans progress. A future government will need to adopt a much more holistic approach to decarbonisation, moving away from focusing exclusively on zero emissions at the tailpipe and considering the whole life cycle of a vehicle’s emissions. In many cases, ICE motorcycles produce substantially fewer emissions over the course of their lifetime than many electric cars and motorcycles need to be seen as a key part of a sustainable solution to achieving a greener future; reducing carbon emissions, journey times and urban congestion.

At the same time, we need to improve the current lack of accessibility to motorcycling for new riders due to the current, complex and costly licensing and training requirements. A future government must deliver the delayed comprehensive review of motorcycling licensing and training requirements, to not only improve and promote access to motorcycling but also to create a platform to significantly improve UK road safety standards and safety outcomes for motorcyclists.

A “Motorcycling Matters” manifesto and campaign website has been created by NMC members, including the BMF, which sets out clearly what motorcyclists need the future Government to deliver as a priority for motorcycling. These priorities are summarised around seven key themes which are designed to deliver a sustainable future for UK motorcycling; ensuring future Government policy is formulated and delivered in a way which does not damage rider choice in the marketplace, or lead to market withdrawal by motorcycle manufacturers, whilst protecting the choices riders are able to make about the bikes they want to ride and how they want to enjoy motorcycling in the future.

In the run up to the General Election we need riders to get involved in our campaign to ensure all Prospective Parliamentary Candidates sign up to the priorities we have outlined by getting them to sign the Motorcycling “Pledge” to support the future of motorcycling. The forthcoming General Election is probably the most important for motorcycling in a generation. The time for action is now with a real opportunity to shape the views of the election candidates from the parties standing in your local constituencies.

Find your local candidates by entering your postcode here and start lobbying them today.

The BMF calls on all riders to get involved in the campaign to deliver a bright and sustainable future for UK motorcycling.

READ OUR CALL TO ACTION HERE

Written by Paul Morgan CBE – BMF Government Relations Executive

Top image courtesy of Red Dot – Unsplash