The original £1,000 cap was axed six years ago after complaints

But many retailers have realised that some higher earners were taking advantage of the perk and bought bikes costing more than £10,000.

One government figure told the newspaper: “Cycle to work should be about helping ordinary commuters switch to greener travel, not giving tax breaks to high earners buying £4,000 e-bikes for weekend rides in the Surrey Hills. Taxpayers shouldn’t be footing the bill for luxury leisure.”

Sounds reasonable. I'm all for helping people buy bicycles. It's a great idea. But taxpayers shouldn't subsidize wealthy families purchasing super-expensive bikes.

Shouldn't they cap the far more costly electric car subsidy first? That reportedly costs over £600m a year, five times the cost of the Cycle To Work incentive. I guess Starmer's spindoctors think a bit of bike-bashing will be popular with those wavering on switching to Russia/Reform, despite bike-bashing politicians losing more often than they win.