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Diktat from MUK
#1
The competition history of the Austin Seven goes back to almost the start of production. Sevens can be seen circuit racing, hillclimbing and sprinting. Owners, contributors to this forum, also take part in nav rallies, driving tests and autosolos, and in considerable numbers in trials. Speed events require competition licences at a number of levels, other activities need drivers to belong to an organising club, VSCC,MCC,  PWA7C and local clubs.
MUK, the renamed MSA who have overall responsibility for motor sport, have suddenly announced a radical change in the requirements not just for entrants but also for navvies and bouncers. There was an announcement earlier this week that from January 2020  a licence, initially free of charge, would be required to drive in any sporting event and also required for passengers in competing cars, that is navvies and bouncers. This has been done with no consultation whatsoever with  clubs.

Whatever  this might look like from Colnbrook, or the paddock at Goodwood, patently no thought has been given to the potential impact on Inter-Register Trials or VSCC nav rallies. The threatened licence would mean that the tradition of casual bouncers recruited in the pub, or possibly across the kitchen table, would be illegal. The navigator being a club member would not be enough. I don't think it is an exaggeration to suggest that this is  a serious threat to grass roots level motor sport, showing a total disregard to what many of us do with our Sevens.

This has been announced in November 2019, to take effect from January 2020. Seven owners who don't read this forum and don't have computers will therefore first find out about it from their club's printed newsletter in December. There they will also read that MUK seem to have intended only on line application for licences, so no hope for six volt side valve luddites who scorn computers then. Numbers of people reading this will be planning their entry to the Clee Hills in January, or the night time delights of the Measham in early February. Has anyone at Colnbrook any idea of how to make sure that licences will have been applied for and granted by then? Has anyone at Colnbrook given  thought to how to impose their regulations, MUK employees peering over the shoulders of MAC stewards at signing on in Ludlow or VSCC vols at Leominster? Maybe MUK inspectors prowling the car parks looking for the unlicensed? Will MAC and VSCC have had so much feedback from  their membership that they choose to ignore it and stick with the existing system?

I don't want to strike a dramatic pose here, but this seems to seriously threaten the levels of motor sport  which many of us take part in. The growing tide of utter opposition to the new licence imposition  is evident on web sites and the forum of a number of clubs. Certain car parks in Cumbria will be full of talk about it this weekend, and by next weekend at Prescott VSCC committee will be utterly fed up with it, but hopefully  already establishing what action to take. Can PWA7C members please do the same.  How can  the Inter-Reg  voice be mobilised to counter a pretty major threat?

Now down to the workshop to sort out Ruby brake lights.
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#2
I was going to suggest a first move would be to try and get every club member from every UK club to put in an application and flood their systems; but I have just gone onto Motorsport UK's website, and am unable to find anywhere where I can apply for any sort of competition licence without first passing a 'course with an accredited school'. What sort of course is provided for a non-driving passenger?
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#3
Who governs the MSA/MUK??
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#4
I am reminded of Tony Benn's famous line:

“What power have you got? Where did you get it from? In whose interests do you exercise it? To whom are you accountable? And how can we get rid of you?”
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#5
Mike; the multiple application response has been widely discussed. The chaos of the MUK web sites is already a problem, but to take such action now could be seen as validating the MUK proposal. It can certainly be a stand by tactic, half the VSCC membership applying in one go!

Ruairidh; when I were a lad decades ago, motor sport in Scotland was quietly and efficiently run by Jonathan Lord from RSAC offices in Blythswood Square, whatever the MSA thought! The MUK is in theory representing the large number of clubs engaged in every form of motor sport, but how democratic that is I do not know. We will see in the next few weeks if the interests of clubs and their membership has any influence over Colnbrook decisions.
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#6
As of 9am this morning, to quote their own website:




A lot of grassroots club motor sport – most AutoSOLOs and Production Car Autotests, for example – does not require competitors to have any special licence; often all that is needed is club membership...

The website then refers you to the 'Types of Motorsport' section for further details, and again I quote:


How do I start?

First, join your local Trials club, which you can find using the club search function. For most Clubman Trials all you need is club membership but for some higher level events you may also need to apply for a Non-Race Clubman Competition Licence.
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#7
I think I'm right in saying that, under the Road Traffic Act, motor sport is illegal in the UK. This follows a series of high profile racing accidents a very long time ago. It was recognised that this was an unreasonable situation and the, then, Government invested the RAC with authority to control motor sport events in the UK. Since then that section of the RAC has morphed into the MSA and now MUK. They are essentially an unregulated body. They do what they like, but their authority comes from the Government.
The MSA/MUK have a long history of ignoring the needs of grassroots motorsport and have imposed draconian measures to control activities in that area whilst focussing on more lucrative areas such as the British Grand Prix.
Now, we need Competition Licences. In some respects that doesn't concern me. I already have one, but in case you think its doesnt concern you either, here is a list of some events granted an exemption certificate by the MUK for the PWA7C.
Sevens to the Sea
Cumbria Run
Pennine Run
Autokarna
Yorkshire Experience
Winter Trial
Static Displays at Chateau Impney and NEC
To take part in any of the above events, drivers and passengers will need to apply for a competition licence. It will kill off this sort of event. Remember this is imposed without any consultation, at six weeks notice, and ask if the MUK are using their powers to benefit ordinary CLub Members.
Alan Fairless
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#8
I'm interested that you think a competition licence will be needed for non-competitive events, Alan. Surely that is the whole purpose of issuing an exemption certificate for this type of event - ie exempting the participants from the normal competitive requirements for an MSA (or MUK) approved event? 

I have been unable to find any reference on the MUK website to a requirement for a competition licence for even those competitive events that Steve mentioned in the opening post; given that entry forms will already be prepared for events in the new year (Sevens to the Sea is already available) the MUK is showing remarkable incompetence even by their own lowly standards!
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#9
Mike, unless things change, the MUK definition of "competition" is very wide ranging. For example, a published list of finishers or a plaque received on finishing can turn an event into a competitive one. The whole thing is a mess.
Alan Fairless
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#10
MUK = bureaucracy. It's doing what they all do, becoming a self-expanding system of influence by adding, without any external control, to their range of responsibilities. One maxim they never, ever follow is, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it".
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