Another MP retracts false claims on motorcycle tax evasion

A second MP behind false claims nearly 40% of motorcycles are untaxed has issued a retraction.

In an email to a member of the public, Richard Bacon MP wrote: “I was certainly at fault – I believed the government!”

But he said he could not ensure his retraction would generate the same level of press coverage the initial false claims did. ‘All I can say is that if I learn how to persuade the press to give serious coverage to the things I think are important I will let you know,’ he said.

• Read his email in full here

Bacon is a member of the Commons Public Accounts Committee, which in January claimed 38% of motorcycles were untaxed. A newer Government study states only 6.5% of motorcycles seen in a roadside survey were untaxed.

The false claims generated widespread publicity, with Committee Chairman Edward Leigh MP accusing motorcyclist of “cocking a snook at the law”.

In a live debate on The Jeremy Vine Show on BBC Radio 2, Bacon said motorcyclists didn’t bother to tax their bikes because they kept them in a shed for much of the year.