Motorcyclists not budgeted for say bmf

Wednesday, 6 January 2010 12:00 AM

Angered that under the Chancellor's recent pre-budget report, road tax rates for motorcycles are set to increase this year, the British Motorcyclists Federation have set up a petition on the No 10 website asking the Prime Minister to intervene and stop the increases.

The bmf say that at a time of economic hardship and when sales of motorcycles are already down some 27% year on year, it makes no sense for any government to increase taxes on motorcycle ownership.

Unlike the car world where motorists and the motoring industry have benefited from the car scrappage scheme, conversely, due to the weak pound, the price of motorcycles has increased and now motorcyclists are to be faced with a Vehicle Excise Duty increases of between 4% and 6% - and this at a time when the Consumer Prices Index is only 1.9%!

The bmf's Government Relations Executive Chris Hodder said: "This is all wrong. While in monetary terms the increases of between £2 and £4 are admittedly quite small, it's not about the numbers, it's about the principle of increasing owner taxation at a time of economic hardship when the motorcycle industry is struggling to stay solvent."

The bmf are asking that in this an election year, all motorcyclists should sign-up to show the strength of feeling over motorcyclists and motorcycling being treated unfairly. The petitions says:

We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to stop the increases in motorcycle tax proposed for 2010

Given that the motorcycle industry is facing some of its darkest days with sales slumping by around 25-30%, it makes no sense for any government to increase taxes on motorcycle ownership as is proposed in the Pre-Budget Report. We petition the government to support the motorcycle industry as it has the car industry and freeze or lower Vehicle Excise Duty and provide some other stimuli for the industry and not to attack it further by increasing the cost of ownership for law-abiding citizens.

The petition can be found at: http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/motorcycleved/

Ends

bmf Events 2010

bmf Show 15/16 May
Garden of England Show (GEMS) 12/13 June
Kelso 10/11 July
Tail End 18/19 September

www.bmf.co.uk

Issued by Jeff Stone: t: 0121 709 1040 m: 07802 763094 e: jeffstone@bmf.co.uk

Details on this and other bmf activities can also be found on our web site: www.bmf.co.uk

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