Ukip has distributed leaflets in Newcastle claiming that funding for cycling is a form of age discrimination.
The party attacked the growth of support for cycling, claiming two-wheelers are the ‘chosen people’ compared to motorists who are ‘cash cows’ with ‘very few rights’.
The leaflet states: ‘How many elderly ladies will get on their bikes on a dark December night in Newcastle? Not many. Surely giving all the rights to cyclists, who are usually young people, is discrimination against the elderly and infirm.’
In a bizarre statement the leaflet also speculates as to how much the cycle lanes could cost per user, despite admitting no figures are held on the number of cyclists in the city.
‘Newcastle Council has been given £10m grant from the government for new cycle lanes but as the council has no idea how many cyclists use the present lanes, it could be costing at least £10,000 per cyclist,’ it states.
It also suggests in conclusion that just because the council received the government grant it ‘does not mean they have to spend it’.
Newcastle Central Labour candidate, Chi Onwurah, told local paper The Chronicle: ‘The idea that this discriminates against older people is absurd and implies some kind of battle between cyclists and the elderly when in reality we all benefit from quieter, safer roads.
‘Ukip have gone from picking on immigrants to picking on cyclists. Who is next I wonder?’
The news comes after Leicestershire CC's Cllr Lynton Yates was suspended from being Ukip’s former general election candidate for Charnwood, Leicestershire for suggesting benefit claimants should be banned from driving.
