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Motorcycle rider licensing must be part of our EU renegotiation

The issue of rider licensing is still causing alarm among motorcyclists. I have been contacted by riders and businesses who are concerned about the complications that the European Union has introduced to the British motorcycle licence through unwelcome directives. This issue is important because as well as being a great leisure and tourism activity, more and more people are using bikes to get to work as a cheaper form of transport than trains or buses, plus of course motorcycles are [...]

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Motorcyclists: ‘Stay in Control’ this Summer

The Government’s ‘Stay In Control’ campaign — developed with partners from the motorcycle industry -– encourages motorcyclists to refine their riding by taking advanced training with qualified instructors and to consider being especially vigilant when road traffic increases as the summer weather arrives. The Minister, Stephen Hammond, has said: Motorcyclists make up just 1% of the traffic on our roads but last year accounted for 19% of deaths. So reducing the number of bikers killed on our roads is a key [...]

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The Motorcycle Industry Association applauds my defence of UK motorcyclists against EU Legislation

Following the debate I called on motorcycle rider licensing, the Motorcycle Industry Association has “applauded [my] defence of UK motorcyclists against EU Legislation“, The Motorcycle Industry Association (MCI) is fully supportive of MP Steve Baker’s comments this week in parliament, when he accused the EU of ‘heavy-handed mistreatment of bikers’. Steve Baker was referring to proposed legislation regarding motorcycle construction and changes to licensing, which are due to be imposed on the UK by the European Commission next year. Steve [...]

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The EU: adding dreary bureaucracy, aggravation and expense to the joy of motorcycling

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Tonight, I led a rather early adjournment debate on motorcycle rider licensing, where the EU has added to the joy of motorcyling, the dreariness, aggravation and expense of capricious bureaucracy. I was grateful to Norman Baker for answering the debate in the place of Mike Penning, who has just moved to the Northern Ireland office, after stoically defending riders rights and liberties as Roads Minister. Licensing is not the first battle that bikers have had to fight against the EU. [...]

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Washington Post: Britain’s continental drift away from the European Union

Via the Washington Post: LONDON — Like so many others in this fiercely independent island nation, Steve Baker, a dashing English engineer, is fed up with the long hand of the European Union in British life. The E.U., he said, has meddled for years in Britain’s legal affairs and labor laws. But this time the 27-nation body had gone too far by interfering with his pride and joy: the retrofitted KTM 950 motorcycle he rides on the country lanes of [...]

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100 Tory MPs (including me) call for Cameron to prepare legislation for EU referendum

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Via 100 Tory MPs call for Cameron to prepare legislation for EU referendum: Is the momentum towards a referendum on Britain’s relationship with the EU becoming irresistable? I ask because, this morning, nearly 100 Tory MPs have signed a letter to the Prime Minister urging him “to place on the Statute Book before the next General Election a commitment to hold a referendum during the next Parliament on the nature of our relationship with the European Union”. Of course I [...]

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EU Hands Off Biking demonstration tomorrow

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Via Motorcycle Action Group: 24th June 2012 will involve 12 major demonstrations, to coincide with the 12 EU Parliamentary Constituencies that exist in the UK. Action will take place on main routes, mostly on Motorways. Start time will be 13.00 hours. The idea is to create a spectacle and let people see us, so blocking the roads will be self-defeating. Instead we’ll leave the outside lane free, which is also important for emergency services I’m not riding tomorrow – I [...]

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Ride to Work day on Monday began a great week for motorcycling, but London’s too congested

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Monday was Ride to Work Day: On Ride To Work Day, motorbike and scooter riders around the world show just how enjoyable their daily commute is. By riding to work we demonstrate that life would be better if more people rode motorcycles and scooters every day, with time savings, less congestion and reduced travel costs. I was glad to ride to work, as I often do. My commute is M40, M25, M4/A4 and along the embankment. In the morning, it’s [...]

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A petition to ensure that biker related questions are compulsory in the driving theory test

Via Motorcyclists Matter – to ensure that biker related questions are compulsory in the driving theory test – e-petitions: In order to raise awareness of motorcyclists on Britain’s roads, Bennetts, the UK’s No.1 Bike Insurance Specialist, is campaigning to ensure biker related questions are made compulsory in the driving theory test – who despite accounting for just 1% of road traffic, fall victim to over a fifth of all fatalities on the roads. Did you know that motorists can currently pass [...]

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Motorcycle Industry Association publish Policy Framework

As I blogged recently, I was glad to host the Associate Parliamentary Motorcycle Group reception in Parliament on 7th March. At this event The Motorcycle Industry Association (MCI) previewed their Policy Framework for Motorcycling. With this publication, they again point out how important the industry is, and can continue to be, to the British economy. It is a £7.2billion industry, employing 62,000 people in over 6,000 businesses and it includes the largest solely UK-owned automotive manufacturer: Triumph Motorcycles. The CEO of [...]

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Steve Baker is MP for Wycombe. He was previously an RAF officer then a business software consultant. Find out more...

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