Are London’s cycle lanes racist? Er, no.

THERE’S an old quote, wrongly attributed to former Nazi monster Hermann Goering, along the lines of: “When I hear the word ‘ culture’ I reach for my revolver.”

I feel rather the same way about the word “diversity”.

A damp blanket of “here we go again” settles over my shoulders whenever I hear the latest wheeze from the multi- million pound “diversity” industry. Last week, it was bikes. The London Mayor’s cycling tsar ( yes!!!), Will Norman, said too few females and people from ethnic minority backgrounds are taking to two wheels around the capital and that the Mayor’s office could introduce “diversity targets” to combat the figures.

Mr Norman said: “There is a problem with cycling and the way it is perceived of getting middle- aged men cycling faster around the city, which is not the objective at all.

“It touches on something which is a real challenge for London cycling, which is diversity.” Really? I think the problem with cycling – especially in cities – is that it’s an activity pursued by a bunch of sanctimonious wankers with cameras on their heads, who believe they can run red lights because they’re “saving the planet”.

Mr Norman added: “Even when we have seen the growth in the number of cyclists, we haven’t seen that diversity.” Ooh, there’s that word again. It’s like tinfoil on a f** king filling.

At present, black, Asian and minority ethnic groups account for about 15% of cycled journeys in London – around two- thirds less than Transport for London estimates it could be.

Since when is it the job of Transport for f** king London to decide how many people from ethnic minorities should be riding around on bicycles?

Will Norman gets £ 98,000 a year for drivel like this.

The thick end of 100k of OUR MONEY to spout claptrap.

I can spout claptrap with the best of them. Gizza job!

Do members of ethnic minorities get a say in this, by the way? Or are Raleigh five- speeds to be delivered to every ethnic home in the capital?

It seems to me that when a public body runs out of things to do or say, they warble: “We must improve diversity.”

The national parks pulled it a few years back when they decided they weren’t enough minorities in the countryside. Look, it’s simple maths. At the last census, 87.1% of the UK population was white/ white British.

That’s the reason the vast majority of people taking part in any activity from riding bikes to tiddlywinks are white.

It’s nowt to do with racist cycle lanes – or whatever the diversity mob reckon is to blame. F** king cycling tsar! What a c** ting time to be alive!