London 6 April:
This leg was never seriously in doubt even though there were two or three moments when one's heart was in mouth. The two teams were unevenly matched from the beginning. The Metro Police are at the top of their game perhaps not surprisingly. They are used to the regular exercise of crowd control in the Nation's Capital and they really are very good at it. What we should be truly proud of is how so very amateur they appear when compared with some of the other contestants in this competion. Never a scent of CS Gas, nor sight of a baton, a riot shield, a side arm or a water cannon.
Sure we saw some rough struggles and a lot of very poorly tailored uniforms. That 'Blue Peter' moment was truly a moment when hearts stood still. The opposition was very good and competed quite hard. The plucky little Tibetans are due a special mention for semingly remaining polite even while manifesting great anger.
I would comment that the Police might have done even better if they had not had to contend with the so called inner circle of the special Guardians of the Flame. At times they sowed nothing but confusion and at other times they acted like cheap thugs, lashing out and kicking at any demonstrator who dared to venture close. This was both uneccessary and in clear breach of the code of amateurism so gallantly upheld by the Metro Police.
But as the flame entered the O2 Arena we knew that the Metropolitan Police had won the day yet again. A magnificent game and one which makes me quietly confident that Team GB will take this competion yet.
Paris, 7 April
Sad to say but today's leg was never very far from descending to farce. The hard faces of the Corps Republican Securite even with their magnificently tailored uniforms and their sense of Elan, so very French could not conceal the marked lack of enrthusiasm and the boredom with which they greeted their task today. The CRS are used to having rings run around them, the good students of Paris have been doing so for forty years. The very fact that the arrest figure given was a mere five says it all. The cRS were clearly not into their task.
Tonight rumours are circulating that the CRS 'threw the match', thanks to a rather mixed message from the French Government which manged to both uphold the Beijing Olympics, and condemn the Chinese Government for its behaviour in Tibet. We shall see what Monsiieur Sarkozi does at Beijing.
The Olympic flame is due to arrive in San Francisco on Wednesday. Already the protesters are gathering. We shall see how San Francisco's finest will handle their leg.
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