The following article was produced by Thames Valley MAG as a briefing in advance of MAG’s Rider’s Resistance ride through Reading planned for 5 July 2025.
Motorcycle Action Group are organising protests across the UK over the 5th and 6th July 2025 to try to highlight our concerns about the Government and Local Government attitudes, policies and anti-motorcycle bias.
Why and What are the issues?
This Protest will focus on only a few of the key issues, that genuinely affect the continued existence of motorcycling, with a focus on Reading and the political dogma enforcement by Labour Councillors. It will not achieve any specific change itself, it is to highlight and raise the awareness of the public and motorcyclists of what is to come and our concerns. This may be enough to change the local council elections balance of power next year, enabling a more measured and realistic approach.
- Local and Government policies and intentions, now and in 2030,
- The proposed 2030 ban on all new petrol motorbike sales in the UK, and potentially imports.
- Expensive & Unrealistic Motorbike parking charges, inadequate secure parking, and penalties for parking in car spaces.
- Petition Refusal and Govt U-turn on default bus lane access, both National and locally, and refusal to consider any future bus lane access proposals.
Local and Government policies and intentions, now and in 2030,
- All the major political parties in the Houses of Parliament have agreed to the phase-out of Part L petrol powered motorcycles, there is therefore no opposition to this, it is just a matter of when. When facing a General Election the Conservatives moved it back to 2035, Labour moved it back again to 2030.
- “They’ll never get away with it” – Well who is going to stop them and how?
- There has been a steady hardening of position and evasiveness in saying how they plan to implement this, because it will be so unpopular.
- November 2024 In response to the Bus Lane Access Petition & multiple meetings and submissions to DfT and Ministers, on the multiple benefits of motorcycles over cars. The DfT issued a telling brush-off statement:
“At this time we have no Policy to encourage increased motorcycling”
December 2024 Lord Hendy, “At present, the Government has no policy to encourage or discourage greater use of motorcycles. The Government supports the purchase of zero emission motorcycles with the plug-in motorcycle grant for those who want to switch to an electric motorcycle.”( The small £500 Grant, has ceased end March 2025.)
In government speak, this means directly the opposite i.e. not even electric ones, and a decrease in motorcyclists. So unless we can force a statement otherwise,
They Do Have a Policy! Viz:
- Whilst car manufacturers/importers have been given encouragement and a taper to adopt electric vehicles, we have not.
- Our analysis is that there is a bias against motorbikes nationally and also in Reading, and that, per previous official proposals,
- there will be a dead stop on new motorbikes sales and imports in 2030,
- Starting with learner legal & 125’s, thereby preventing new riders. For the moment, that remains as 2030 for mopeds and A1 motorcycles, and 2035 for bigger bikes.
- Existing motorbikes will be allowed to continue, withering away against foreseeable rises in fuel duty and taxation intended to deter them, all justified as required to achieve UK Net Zero in 2035.
- Why has there has been no real significant UK Government encouragement or support for moving to electric motorbikes or for overseas importers?
- Very poor demand, almost non-existent, under 3500 bikes sold in 2024, under 2500 in 2023, all mainly sub-15KW.
- To hide this, the DfT quotes the cumulative sales figure since 2016! At 10 years old some of those batteries and bikes will be un-recyclable scrap now.
- Various major manufacturers have a well-developed and expanding range of electric motorbikes overseas but are not marketing them in the UK. Honda especially. But the bigger bikes from Zero, BMW etc cost over £20k, and have a very, very low resale value. There are a number of other low-powered electric bikes, basically Chinese origin, suppliers in the UK market, who make up most of the sales. (Harley Davidson have already withdrawn EV bike sales from the UK market, there are no significant others in the UK.)
- The government, and Reading Borough Council (RBC) – despite the pesky accident and mortality rates, prefer electric small scooters and overpowered battery bicycles, and are seeking to legitimise them. They are included in Readings’ Strategic Transport Plan, collectively titled Micro-mobility Vehicles despite them still being illegal. No recognition in that section, of real scooters, even sub 15Kw ones, being the only current legal micro-mobility.
Expensive & Unrealistic Motorbike parking charges
- Government is encouraging all Councils to adopt similar measures to Reading, including revenue growth opportunities in emissions based parking and motorbike parking charges.
Following the Wednesday 6th July Transport Management Committee meeting, we can now confirm:
- RBC is heavily committed to its Climate Emergency, Air Quality Improvement and 2030 Net Zero targets. All Councillors agree on that much, so no problem with that, except their proposed solutions and dictatorial implementations. Motorbikes including scooters are seen negatively as bad for Air Quality (false) , noisy, dirty, too fast and dangerous. RBC Transport officers seem to have an anti-bike bias too, or are reflecting their Labour-majority Councillors views.
- Even the Green Party asked for the Emissions Based Parking Consultation implementation to be modified!
- The Conservatives were also concerned, and with Green Party agreeing, asked if it could be altered afterwards or was a pre-determined outcome.
They were both told no, only minor charges could be altered, otherwise they would have to re-issue the Consultation. A Pre-Determined Outcome is not legitimate.
i.e irrespective of any Consultation responses they will not change their plan.
Bus Lane Access
- RBC have authorised, without formal consultation, a new digital Resident Parking Permit charge for motorbikes. If a household also has a car, it will always be charged at the higher £180 rate.
So if the household gets rid of the low carbon, low emissions motorbike or scooter, they will save £132 on the car! (Off-road parking is exempt, for now. Don’t leave it out or the camera car/Scooter riding wardens will fine you)
In the Victorian streets of Reading, of necessity, there are scooters and motorbikes parking on street, who are most likely to be low income households. The RBC authorising paper states it has no idea how many there are.
- All of the Resident Parking Charges will increase again when the Emissions Based Parking charges start to apply. How much will depend upon the vehicle.
- “Net Zero does not permit Free Parking” Quote by the Lead Councillor for Transport.
This confirms that on-street motorcycle parking charges are coming, but have not been disclosed yet. When challenged there has been no denial of this.
- Westminster charges £1/hr, Hackney and Tower Hamlets are also expensive. How much for Reading, and will it be slyly introduced, like the Motorbike Resident Parking Permit charge?
- A big daily bill for all day parking will result for shop workers, train drivers & commuters etc, who are often low-waged and for whom public buses simply do not meet their needs.
- What parking there is limited. St Mary’s Butts or Oxford Road it is not secure, where there has been bike theft. Penalty charges will apply for parking motorbikes in car spaces. Couriers are using the load/unload bays at the end of Friar Street and risking parking tickets. Why not allow that, with an out of hours period for real loading and unloading?
g All parking charges will be digital payment via Ringo, so if you have no phone or no cash card?- No parking!
- MAG & Reading Hackney Carriage Association made an application for access to the A33 Bus lane between J11 and Town. It was refused “because the Mass Transit scheme is not in operation yet”, and “that lane is reserved for future Trams”.
(Autonomous buses are imagined in the Strategic Transport Scheme – They don’t exist yet)
- In the interim they could have reaped the benefit of improved air quality, traffic reduction and reduction in road wear, for years. Don’t let Common-sense stand in the way of Political dogma and Pride?
Further still! Tired of the pressure to come up with silly justifications;-
RBC Labour ruled that no further access applications for any bus lanes would be accepted. “RBC will conduct a review of all bus lanes access Borough wide.”
Even the Green Party laughed at that, and asked when that would ever happen! (No reply given) So it’s been effectively banned, per the DfT “No Policy to encourage” statement above.
To change any of this will require raising motorcycling and the public’s awareness, mass responses and submitted complaints to both the Council and local Councillors, even non-Reading ones help.
Thames Valley MAG
Motorcycle Action Group
June 2025