Spare a festive thought for the London Times columnist Matthew Parris whose recent diatribe against the pedal cyclist started 'A festive custom we could do worse than foster would be stringing piano wire across country lanes to decapitate cyclists'. Yes, it was the London Times. Yes, it was Matthew Parris. Yes, it was incitement to murder - a criminal offence in the UK.
His outburst appeared to have been sparked by finding litter in the hedgerows that he assumed had been thrown by recreational pedallers. Many of the 165 (so far) comments raised substantial doubts about that assumption.
What was surprising was firstly how Mr Parris had slipped so far from his trademark care and diligence and secondly the poisonous responses of some of the commentators. Perhaps this was Parris' intention - to show that readers of The Times are no different from those of the gutter press.
There are unguarded remarks that can be made in banter, soon dismissed and forgotten. It was the drink talking. This excuse is not valid for the written word. It can be mulled over, reflected, tempered and prepared. It is not biodegradable.
How can mere cyclists - precarious on two wheels, completely and constantly vulnerable to the risk of death or serious injury - provoke such venom from those who encapsulate themselves in tons of steel and crumple zones? Cyclists are an identifiable but visible minority in the UK. Persecution goes with the territory.
Perhaps there is a Parkinson's Law of abuse analogous to the colour of the bikeshed: The smaller and more innocuous it seems, the larger the offence taken.
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