The Motorcycle Action Group has launched an e petition on the 10 Downing St site to challenge over zealous police reaction to alleged risks at motorcycle events.
The petition follows a parliamentary question on the subject that MAG member Lembit Opik MP tabled in Parliament earlier this year.
MAG is concerned by the apparent enthusiasm displayed for closing events on the basis of information about criminal intent which police are not obliged to share with event organisers.
MAG President Ian Mutch said, ‘I suspect that the police are themselves victims of a health and safety culture which is leading them to pick the safe option of closing events to avoid becoming targets of criticism if something goes wrong.’
‘It is intolerable that event organisers should face financial ruin because of factors that are not of their making. We feel that if organisers are eligible for compensation under such circumstances then pressure may be exerted on the police which could restore balance to a situation which appears to be getting out of control.’
The petition reads as follows:
Criminal compensation
Compensate fully the innocent organisers of public events where police have achieved cancellation based on undisclosed 'intelligence received' regarding the potential criminal actions of parties unrelated to the event organiser.
To sign the petition, go here:
http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/Eventsatrisk/
MAG-UK
Monday 20 April 2009
Friday 3 April 2009
MAG takes testing fiasco to Parliament
MAG is using its parliamentary connections to expose the lunacy of introducing the new testing regime before adequate test facilities are ready and there is now to be a thirty minute debate in the House of Commons on the introduction of the new test.
MAG rep for North Wales Rory Wilson has gained the support of his MP Mark Williams MP for Ceredigion who has tabled the 30 minute debate for April 22. The debate will be held at 4pm and will provide MR Williams with a full 15 minutes to lay out the case for suspending introduction of the new testing arrangements until adequate facilities are in place. The Roads minister will then have 15 minutes to respond to the points made.
MAG is concerned that riders in areas ill-served by test centres will have to travel as far as 140 miles, possibly in foul weather to take their tests. MAG is also concerned that many training schools which are not located within a convenient distance of a new testing centre may go out of business.
MAG President Ian Mutch said: ‘At a time when so much emphasis is rightly being put on the need for good training to prepare new riders for the road, it is ironic that we should be prematurely adopting a new regime that is going to make fresh problems rather than curing old ones.’
MAG UK
MAG rep for North Wales Rory Wilson has gained the support of his MP Mark Williams MP for Ceredigion who has tabled the 30 minute debate for April 22. The debate will be held at 4pm and will provide MR Williams with a full 15 minutes to lay out the case for suspending introduction of the new testing arrangements until adequate facilities are in place. The Roads minister will then have 15 minutes to respond to the points made.
MAG is concerned that riders in areas ill-served by test centres will have to travel as far as 140 miles, possibly in foul weather to take their tests. MAG is also concerned that many training schools which are not located within a convenient distance of a new testing centre may go out of business.
MAG President Ian Mutch said: ‘At a time when so much emphasis is rightly being put on the need for good training to prepare new riders for the road, it is ironic that we should be prematurely adopting a new regime that is going to make fresh problems rather than curing old ones.’
MAG UK
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