Motorcycle Action Group (MAG)

"Meanwhile, a motorcycle group lobbying against the expansion of London’s clean air zone and a ban on the sale of new petrol cars has been exposed as stating that climate change is “an eco fraud” used to “control” people. The Motorcycle Action Group (MAG), which claims to have 50,000 members, “fiercely opposes” the Ultra Low Emissions Zone (Ulez). The Ulez has become a lightning rod in the debate over green policies in recent days after the Tories narrowly won the Uxbridge by-election by campaigning against its expansion, which is due to be implemented next month. The group’s political connections include the former Liberal Democrat MP Lembit Opik, who is MAG’s head of communications, and the Northern Ireland minister Steve Baker, who is a member. Steve Baker MP says he is glad to be a member of the Motorcycle Action Group, which opposes a ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel cars in 2030 Steve Baker MP says he is glad to be a member of the Motorcycle Action Group, which opposes a ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel cars in 2030 An investigation into the 50-year old group by the website DeSmog has now revealed the extent to which the organisation casts doubt on well-established climate change science. Documents for “Operation Earthquake”, the name for the campaign MAG is running against the 2030 ban on the sale of new petrol cars, show that the group “reject[s] claims there’s a human-caused climate crisis”. It goes on to say: “So far, nobody has presented anything to show a human-caused climate crisis”. The materials call humanity’s contribution to CO2 emissions “tiny” and “minuscule”, adding: “Climate is changing because it has always changed”. In a now-deleted tweet, the group’s chairman, Neil Liversidge, wrote: “Get fracking, re-open the pits, sod electric cars. The so-called ‘climate crisis’ is all bullshit hyped up by people who want an excuse to control us.” Opik last year said on a panel that “there’s no climate emergency, either natural or human-caused”. The claims are starkly at odds with scientific literature. A report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, signed off by nearly 200 countries, said in April that humans are “unequivocally” behind the 1.1C of global warming recorded since the Industrial Revolution. The group was invited to a motorcycle industry roundtable last month with the transport minister Jesse Norman. The Department for Transport said it was “clear on our commitment to reduce transport emissions”, which includes decarbonising motorcycles. The mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, plans to expand the Ulez, which issues a £12.50 fee to the most polluting cars, to the capital’s outer boroughs from August 29. The Labour leader, Sir Keir Starmer, has told Khan to “reflect” on the scheme after the Uxbridge defeat. MAG has argued for the most polluting motorcycles to be exempted from the scheme. The group’s stance has drawn criticism from its own members. David French, who founded the MAG’s Irish branch, said: “I fundamentally disagree with the organisation taking on a stance of denying man-made climate change and encouraging its members to lobby their local MPs on this basis.” A spokesman for Khan said: “The scientific evidence on both the climate emergency and air pollution is unequivocal.” They urged people to: “Be cautious about those who are clearly scaremongering and spreading misinformation.” Liversidge said: “I’m just going to carry on doing what I would have liked it to do, what I believe in, which is basically [lobbying] for motorcyclists. I do believe that humans have contributed towards global warming. Do I think they’ve made a major contribution? No, I don’t.” Baker said: “I’m a member, I’m glad to be.” Opik told DeSmog: “In order to respond to your questions, I need to see your specific, unambiguous explanation of what you mean by the ‘climate science denial’ you are claiming I have ‘expressed’.”