Working Together For A Safer London

When is the fat policeman in the yellow jacket and the riot helmet who pushed over Mr Ian Tomlinson at the G20 protests in town a week ago going to be arrested for - at the very least - assault? Well, since we're talking here about the Metropolitan Police, the answer is never. Not a chance, not a hope, not a prayer... and by the way, that Brazilian bloke we shot down Stockwell Tube... he was guilty too.

Shortly after he was shoved from behind (the Belgrano manoeuvre), Mr Tomlinson, a newspaper vendor, suffered a fatal heart attack. I bet there was quite a little bit of "Oh fuck"-ing going on under those same helmets when that happened. The Guardian has footage of the incident, but you can bet that all the CCTV coverage has already been either lost or - if any should come to light - is in some way inconclusive.

There has already been a whispering campaign that Mr Tomlinson was a protester and carrying a placard (a capital offence, for sure). He was not. His family has spoken in public about the incident and their voices carry far more credence that the innuendo of "police sources".

This one will run and run, and every turn will add weight to the Met's unfortunate reputation for dealing sneakily with inconvenient truths. But soon, they are going to have to turn in the fat policeman or they will have about as much credibility as the financial institutions whose fabric they were seeking to protect.