A Remarkable Success

The Commons home affairs select committee in charge of the preliminary whitewash of the violence at the G20 protests has concluded that the rotten apples in the Metropolitan Police this time used "inappropriate force" because they were inexperienced and scared, and not at all because the Government objects to peaceful protest. Perish the thought. The committee chairman, Keith Vaz, called the operation, during which one man was killed and various other persons manhandled or confined without charge, "remarkably successful"; but noted that the all-important public-relations aspect could have done with improvement: "the ability of the public and the media to monitor every single action of the police through CCTV, mobile phones and video equipment means they have to take even greater care to ensure that all their actions are justifiable". The committee stated its belief (confirmed by the Guardian's Journalistic Telepathy Unit) that "there are no circumstances in which it is acceptable for police officers not to wear their identification numbers", but implied that non-conscious removal of said numbers might be treated leniently. The committee did not consider the death of Ian Tomlinson or the attack on Nicola Fisher, let alone the barrage of lies and distortions put out by the greatest police force in the world in the immediate aftermath of the public-relations blunder, to be worthy of comment; but it did note that the filming of such incidents could undermine trust in the police. And just when they were doing so well.