‘Labour is not interested in motorcycles’ MP encourages government action to secure biking's future

Labour’s vision for UK transport appears to have little room for motorcycling, leaving a glaring policy gap that offers few certainties around the future of the two wheeled sector.

During an exclusive interview, Fabian Hamilton, Labour MP for Leeds North East told MCN: “Labour is not interested in motorcycles – or so it would seem. I think there’s a lot of ignorance built into that.

“I suspect there is nobody in the government who actually uses a motorcycle. So, I think it’s important that we educate my colleagues who are ministers as to why motorcycles are just as important as cycles, cars, and any other form of transport.

“If we could have one or two ministers who actually use motorcycles for transport, as I do and other MPs do, then I think we’d see a very different attitude.”

What does the industry have to say

Motorcycle Industry Association (MCIA) Director of Policy and Public Affairs, Alfie Brierly added: “We need political commitment to our sector. Once we have that, we need to push towards licence reforms and introducing a bespoke grants and incentives package for both consumers and employers to drive uptake of all L category vehicles.”

But so far, commitment is proving elusive. Craig Carey-Clinch, Executive Director at the National Motorcyclists Council, explained: “In 2022, we put our positions together as a sector and since then, there’s been nothing. What is quite frustrating is that we were almost at the point when it was all going to come to fruition, then Sunak left.

“The new government is taking a lot of time to figure what it really wants. We’ve had incredibly limited engagement with any ministers.”

Net zero uncertainties

Since taking power in July 2024, the ruling party’s position on motorcycles remains opaque, with Starmer’s government yet to address calls for licence reforms (seemingly a dead certainty under the previous Conservative government), to consider the desperate shortfall of new bodies to the industry, or enshrine into policy a define phase out date for internal combustion bikes.

Previous Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, had set this date at 2030 for mopeds and 2035 for larger capacity machines – which was in line with policy for the wider automotive sector. When the new government announced plans to reinstate the original 2030 cut-off for cars and goods vehicles, bikes fell by the wayside and a date still remains unconsidered – leaving the industry in limbo.

Motorcycles and other L-category vehicles are responsible for just 0.5% of the nation’s transport emissions, compared to cars and vans which account for two-thirds of motoring pollution. With that in mind, biking organisations, such as the National Motorcycle Dealers Association, are pushing for a decarbonisation approach that reflects the small damage attributable to two and three wheelers.

This is especially pertinent as demand for battery powered motorcycles continues to dwindle. MCIA figures indicate that electric registration figures fell by 38% last year, dropping a further 11% between September 2023 and September 2024.

“Eventually, fossil fuels will be phased out” added Hamiliton. “That’s certain, but a viable alternative must take their place. This needs to be affordable – which means the return of the government grant program,” the MP continued.

MCIA Director, Brierly added: “We were told that we were going to get some decent dates relative to what we could realistically achieve. We need this new government to adopt a similarly pragmatic approach to our sector proportionate to our emissions – which is tiny.

“We need to move away from this focus on zero emissions at the tail pipe. We need to consider the whole lifecycle of our vehicles. We’ve shown through analysis that various L category vehicles clearly show lifetime emissions that are lower than an electric car.”

Carey-Clinch, of the National Motorcyclists Council supported this, saying: “Importantly, the phase out needs to bring the consumer along with it, because if they don’t like, then they aren’t going to buy.

“There’s has to be a diversity of technologies. It must be a broader approach to decarbonisation that moves at a pace that works internationally, not just in the UK.

“The government needs to move outside of the obsession with battery electric. That’s not just the ministers; that’s the whole infrastructure. It needs to evolve.”

Bus lane blues

This comes in the wake of the government’s decision to prevent bikes from legally accessing bus lanes by default, despite 96% of the 14,327 respondents to the Department for Transport’s online consultation stating that they strongly agreed with the statement: ‘If it is safe to do so, motorcycles should be allowed to access bus lanes by default’.

Accompanying the ruling was the statement that there exists “no policy to encourage greater use of motorcycles.”

Labour MP for Leeds North East, Fabian Hamilton responded: “I think it’s absolutely insane. I’m disappointed in my colleagues for not listening to the evidence, not listening to all the representations from everybody who feels there’s no harm in this, rather that there’s lots of good in it.

“I hope this decision doesn’t endanger motorcyclists, but if you’re asking them to filter more, rather than use bus lanes, then there is more risk.

“What any motorcyclist knows is that if you can use bus lanes, you can move through traffic easily and more safely, which makes the activity more attractive.”