MAG hammers home ICE Ban opposition with Minister


Motorcycle Action Group (MAG) Chair, Neil Liversidge, met Minister of State (Decarbonisation and Technology) Jesse Norman yesterday.  With resistance to the ICE ban growing in Europe, MAG hammered home the message that the Government should abandon its plan to ban the sale of new ICE vehicles in the UK from 2030.  Instead, MAG is presenting a radical alternative that will massively improve transport connectivity to unify the UK, improve air quality, and reduce emissions, whilst at the same time strengthening our country economically.

ICE Ban opposition

MAG National Chairman Neil Liversidge and MAG’s Director of Campaigns & Political Engagement, Colin Brown, met Jesse Norman at the Transport Department HQ yesterday.  Neil and Colin hammered home the scale of the mistake the UK Government will be making if it mandates the end of internal combustion engined vehicles (ICEVs) as planned from 2030. 

Key points they highlighted included –

  • Why MAG’s alternative plan makes more sense.
  • The threat the Government’s forced electrification poses to the UK’s long-term economic prosperity and national security.
  • How forced electrification will negatively impact most people’s standard of living.
  • Why policies that work in London don’t necessarily work in the rest of the UK.

The meeting took place as news surfaced that the EU’s own anti-ICE plan is in trouble, with proposals tabled to create an exception for e-fuelled cars from 2035. Germany, Austria, Italy and other EU nations are opposing forced electrification due to the lack of technology neutrality.  MAG has consistently argued that internal combustion engines will be necessary and desirable for the foreseeable future.  Net Zero can be achieved whilst this technology continues to supply the clear benefits of carbon neutral, energy dense liquid fuels.  There is no logic in enforcing the demise of a technology in a way that will inevitably cause hardship for UK citizens, whilst seriously damaging the UK’s economic prospects, and therefore its security, certainly for decades and possibly forever.

Speaking after the meeting, Neil said:

“We were not expecting the Minister to announce a U-turn on the policy in the meeting, but I can say that we have robustly presented the strength of feeling on the ICE ban.  We briefly discussed MAG’s alternative solution for the future of transport with rapid expansion of an electrified public transport system allied to a diverse range of technologies in the private motorised sector.  There are no reasons why electric and ICE vehicles cannot co-exist to create a diverse and resilient transport system.  We are seeing Europe edging towards this reality, and the UK could lead the way.  We have agreed to submit a fleshed-out proposal to Jesse Norman that will both meet the Government’s ambitions and avoid destroying the economy and motorcycling culture in the process.”