To ‘celebrate’ Brexit, on 1 January 2021 the British Government, via Transport Secretarty Grant Shapps, announced that car and motorcycle number plates that included the GB lettering but with the European Union’s circle of stars, would no longer be valid alone while traveling abroad to state your country of residence. While there was no need to change your number plates, you would need to obtain a ‘GB’ oval sticker and fix that to the rear of your vehicle too.
The British Government informed us all that new number plates produced after this date could instead have the GB lettering with a Union Flag for example. Organisations like the AA, RAC and number plate manufacturers nationwide therefore geared up to offer customers plates and stickers without the EU flag on them.
And then quietly, with no announcement and according to Auto Express yesterday, “Spotted as a footnote in UN regulations by the AA, which says it has 50,000 items of stock it will now need to change,” the GB Sticker is to be replaced by a UK sticker, after 111 years of use. Apparently the Government has written to the United Nations to effect the change, stating: “The United Kingdom is changing the distinguishing sign that it had previously selected for display in international traffic on vehicles registered in the United Kingdom, from ‘GB’ to ‘UK’. …this change will take effect on 28 September 2021.”
One can only assume the British Government has a political agenda behind this to try and win votes and keep itself in power, otherwise why else spend the time, effort and money to overturn a decision made just seven months earlier while you still have a pandemic on your hands?
Anyway, now you know; if you plan to ride abroad after 28 September you need to display a UK local on the rear of your scooter. And if there are any Anglo-French scooterists out there then why not display your French ‘F’ first and let the world know what we are all thinking.
By the way does anyone want a small, scooter sized GB sticker, for nostalgic reasons of course…?
