Has the Times declared war on cyclists?

Editorial calling for cycling licences and insurance is odd given paper's previous campaigns for safer roads

Even in the context of the UK media's famously curious coverage of everyday cycling, this was a surprise. Away from the more familiar tabloid cries of a battle" over changes to the Highway Code, tucked away in the sober enclave of the Times's editorial pages something odd was happening.

It was near the bottom of a leader column on cycling that a paper which, less than a decade ago, launched the most concerted and effective media campaign for safe cycling seen in this country for years, decided in effect to declare war on those who opt for two-wheeled transport.