Lewis Cocking

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Stringer. I thank the hon. Member for Epsom and Ewell (Helen Maguire) for securing this vital debate. Every time I speak to people right across Broxbourne, this issue is at the top of their minds. If I was to ask someone about the regulation of e-scooters and e-bikes, they would say, quite simply, “What regulation?” As far as they are concerned, there is none. We all know about the day-to-day antisocial behaviour linked to e-bikes and e-scooters and are familiar with the horrific stories of their misuse. I have seen it many times: gangs of masked-up hooligans riding in packs, terrorising our high streets with no regard for anyone else’s safety. It makes a mockery of law and order and we need a proper crackdown. What are the regulations? I checked the Government’s website before the debate—not something anyone who is riding an e-bike antisocially would do. The fastest e-bikes need to be registered, taxed and insured, and riders need a licence and a helmet, but it does not take Sherlock Holmes to figure out that individuals hiding their identity with a balaclava would not do any of that. We need a joined-up approach right across Government that includes the Department for Transport. The Transport Minister in the other place said: “The Government recognise the role that…electric cycles and scooters…can play in supporting economic growth, improving health and reducing emissions.”—[Official Report, House of Lords, 9 June 2026; Vol. 856, c. 1220.] What a load of nonsense. That is far from the reality faced by people right across the United Kingdom, including in my constituency. The Government need to get a grip and use the full force of the law to stop illegal use of e-bikes and e-scooters.