G20 Death
by Graham Davies

I can hear the policeman's defence in court already: "The protestor was walking away from me in a threatening manner and the way he had his hands in his pockets made me fear for my life. I was forced to defend myself by hitting him with my baton."

There are many people in this country who feel that demonstrators get what they deserve...after all, they should not have been protesting if they didn't want trouble.

Those people are just plain wrong. Tolerance of mass protest is one of the things that distinguishes us from countries like Russia, China, France and a whole host of more demcocratic entities. This country has always presented itself as a haven of free speech. I hope it always will.

Demonstrations have to be policed. But in Britain it has to be done carefully. Because that is what Britain is all about: a country where the Rule of Law is obeyed by citizens and the police.

Fortunately, there is video footage which will be carefully studied by the Police Complaints Authority and the Crown Prosecution Service. This may well lead to a policeman being prosecuted....something which would never happen in the countries mentioned above.

Policemen do break the rules here, but they will not always get away with it.

The British feel that we are better than other countries. It is the Rules that make us better.