Badges and balaclavas - the protest debate

Does anybody else's heart sink when you hear about protests in central London these days?

Saturday's anti cuts protest saw another escalation taking place in Trafalgar Square; the ironic thing is that I was there the previous day with thousands of tourists enjoying the sunshine. What a difference a day makes.

Again accusations flew back and forth between police and protesters of brutality and troublemaking; on both sides. It makes me almost wish for the days of the Iraq War and foxhunting marches; people marched, they made themselves heard, they went home afterwards.

Today, Home Secretary Theresa May announced that she would consider allowing police to ban the use of masks and balaclavas at protests. Now, far from being a fan of our very own ConDem-ned government, I nevertheless found myself nodding vigorously at the radio. If protesters are there peacefully, why is there a need hide your face? Surely you should be proud to support your cause. Unless of course it involves smashing up shop windows?

But it works both ways. We have heard of instances where police officers have removed their badge numbers during protests. All officers MUST wear their badge numbers on duty, regardless if they are at a rally, or the the village fete. Anonymity does nothing in these situations to reassure people. And it certainly does nothing to dispel those conspiracy theories. Last year, the Metropolitan Police Authority reported that the force failed to discipline officers who removed their police badges at the G20; could this have resulted in tit-for-tat measures taken by the masked minority?

All that said and done, however, give the police credit where it's due - I'm not excusing the actions of the officer who struck down Ian Tomlinson, or the infamous actions of one Sgt Smellie who was filmed striking protester Beth Wilson with his asp a day later. But we should appreciate the predicament the good majority are in; if they aren't seen to be doing enough, they are painted as inept. If a photograph emerges of them making an arrest, they are lambasted for being heavy-handed. The police are there to do just that - police.