Police in a state

Steve Bell nails it as usual. The police tactics for the G20 were an indication of the thinking of government and police hierarchy at the moment. The issue is not only the death of Ian Tomlinson, which is appalling enough, but the whole approach to protest, which appears to be designed (with the help of media stirring, and let's face it, desperation for things to "kick off" in a newsworthy fashion beforehand) to intimidate protesters and deter them from any action, despite the "free democracy" in which we live and which is always toted by government as their answer to any accusation of authoritarianism. The fact is things will not get any better unless people do make their feelings known, but the more they do, the more the government will clamp down. It's a win win for the nasty face of Nu Labour. I can't believe I was ever relieved at the end of the years of conservative rule - this lot are infinitely worse. The one plus in all this is that we are able to use the surveillance tactics on the police themselves, and as has been shown by this video (obtained by the Guardian), expose their lies (here are witness testimonies) about what really happened to Tomlinson. I'm not optimistic about where we go from here, politically speaking at any rate.

PS This video is maybe closer to the truth of what went on. The crowd are holding raised hands, standing still, chanting "peace not riot". The police are just laying into them...