Motorcycle Forums

E-mail rec'd from the BMF today

You may have heard that the BMF is not paying fees to FEMA, and even that we are no longer members of FEMA.

The origin of this story is a press release from Ian Mutch, ostensibly about MAG's fund-raising drive.

The facts are that:

We are paying a monthly amount to FEMA, which we hope to increase next year.
We are in arrears, due to our cashflow problems over the last 2 years.
We are still working with FEMA and participating in their debates over EU legislation.
With your help we will be able to pay off what we owe sooner rather than later, and in the meantime we will continue to work on your behalf both in the UK and in Europe.

Thank you for your continued support.

Roger Ellis
BMF Chairman

Which doesn' t seem to contradict anything that's already been said. While I've been a BMF member for some years, it has to make you wonder how effective they now are, compared to MAG ?

@MattMorris

As far as MAG's concerned…
I suppose it depends on where you live – down where I am: Brighton bus lane access (starting next summer); a U-turn by the Driving Standards Agency after they closed the Mod 1 test centre at Ore in November (re-opening on the 23rd of this month); local and County Councils consulting MAG on road repairs (East Sussex County Council about Alfriston). – that's all been in the past few weeks – 

Full bus lane access on Red Routes in London for bikes (in the past few months)

Getting rid of the charge for bikes on the QE2 Bridge/Tunnel, Severn Bridge and others (all within the past 10 years)

MAG has successfully lobbied the UK's Department for Transport – who have persuaded the EU Council of Ministers to drop the requirement for bikes to have Road Worthiness Testing. Finally, the review into bike testing (signed off by – now former – Roads Minister and MAG member Mike Penning) which will sort out the stupid testing rules we have at present. That's off top of my head anyway

@Rogerborg

Some of us agree with you over the 'pointless slow rides' – I somehow think they won't be happening again any time soon. The last ride in June wasn't supposed to be a slow one. 

Fuck em

What kind of motorcyclists charge other motorcyclists money to have their say? Not the kind I'd want anything to do with that's for sure.

Charges

I'm pretty sure the EU commission will charge a great deal to operate a group which exists to challenge their ideas. This is likely to stop dissent. The commission didn't have to go through the trouble of elections to get where they are so why should they listen to anyone? And no one should EVER take anyone to the EU courts. To use them merely justifies their continued over reach of their original powers and their ability to make stupid regulations that affect half a billion people based on one case. Unfortunately the EU state is legal. How they created it is certainly unethical and an absolute disgrace but the bastard child of communism is as legal as it gets. There's some EU legislation we should keep - of course some will be an improvement on what we had prior to that as we stopped making our own laws and so they might well be outdated. The problem is to get rid of it requires a government which isn't retarded. This government will argue that about 8% of our laws come from Brussels. That all the legislation coming from Brussels affects all states and that the Germans did a proper audit finding that over 80% of their laws are EU laws means that yet again, we're being lied to by people obsessed with bending over for Barroso.