Send UK’s seized illegal dirt bikes to Ukraine to help beat Russia, MP urges

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1. Illegal dirt bikes and other off-road vehicles seized by police as part of a [crackdown on anti-social behaviour](https://inews.co.uk/news/politics/police-to-have-powers-to-seize-dirt-bikes-in-labour-anti-social-crime-crackdown-3291749?srsltid=AfmBOorB5mXH7992udCGMRJvXD5q50DtQREfsCFyAvQxPDoeIF_dov6K&ico=in-line_link) should be sent to Ukraine, an MP has suggested.

   David Taylor, the Labour MP for Hemel Hempstead, said the vehicles could potentially be [used on the front line](https://inews.co.uk/news/world/russias-long-range-drones-taken-war-ukraine-deadly-phase-3776473?srsltid=AfmBOor4b6JkFsSSeuWAFgZfYRCNWMmbe7b36qzZQKSbjXjdD4V0pjfv&ico=in-line_link) to deliver supplies to troops and evacuate wounded soldiers.

   The Government has promised to make it easier to confiscate off-road vehicles that are being driven illegally and can make life more difficult for local residents who are [terrorised by low-level criminality](https://inews.co.uk/news/politics/town-dirt-bikes-levelling-up-change-3063511?srsltid=AfmBOoppz1wgHx6d_WBBhnWv-Z6pw2MqsD7XAfkBmSELYbumv46nhxpo&ico=in-line_link).

   The Home Office is currently consulting on plans to change the law so that the vehicles can be destroyed within 48 hours of their seizure, rather than having to be stored by police forces.

   But Taylor, who has visited the front line in Ukraine, said ministers and police chiefs should consider the possibility of putting them to productive use instead.

   In a letter to the Policing Minister, Dame Diana Johnson, the backbencher said: “Vehicles such as off-road bikes, quad bikes, scramblers and electric scramblers – if in good condition and safe to transfer – could serve a vital function in Ukraine, particularly in rural and frontline areas where off-road mobility is essential.”

   He told *The i Paper*: “The Government’s new 48-hour destruction policy is a powerful message to criminals and a huge win for communities affected by antisocial vehicle use – I back zero tolerance for yobs and thugs. But we also have a chance here to turn a small number of those vehicles into life-saving assets abroad, where they can make a real difference.”

   Taylor added: “I stood on the ground with Ukrainian soldiers who told me directly how much they rely on civilian vehicles, especially off-roaders, for evacuating the wounded, delivering supplies, and keeping their defences moving. If even a handful of seized bikes can be safely repurposed, we should grasp that opportunity… This proposal could ensure these vehicles stop being a nuisance to our constituents and start being a nuisance to Putin.”

   Other civilian vehicles such as ambulances have previously been delivered from the UK to Ukraine to help with the country’s war efforts.

2. confiscated pickups, vans, and anything else that could help the war effort should be sent.
   Every European government could do this

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