Grant Shapps’ bike licence plates proposal ‘a strange and pointless idea’

Transport secretary's apparent hint at number plates for cycling met with confusion and criticism

• Shapps can look to North Korea for a model

Transport groups and opposition parties have reacted with bafflement to a proposal by Grant Shapps to look at mandatory insurance and registration for cyclists, something previously rejected by the Department for Transport (DfT) as impractical and counter-productive.

In an interview with the Daily Mail that appeared to surprise his own officials, the transport secretary said he absolutely" wanted to extend speed limits to cyclists, adding: I see no reason why cyclists should break the road laws and be able to get away with it."