Whether we're ruled from London, Brussels, Dublin, Washington or whatever, it doesn't really matter - this is what we can expect. Jobs involving guns attract, among others, people with inappropriate attitude. And such jobs affect the characters of others. The UK was extraodinarily fortunate to manage for so long with an unarmed police force.

What is new in the western democracies, at least within my experience, is that Bush and even more so Blair have legitimised lying and deceit as never before. They have lied on one of the biggest issues imaginable, they have got away with it, and apart from a few Akenatons, few in their domestic audiences seem to mind that much. They can even pass themselves off as decent Christians.

In light of leaked evidence from the Stockwell inquiry it is hard to avoid the conclusion that the London police chief Sir Ian Blair was intentionally deceptive in his early statements after the incident. But he will enjoy prime-ministerial protection of course, because where would Tony be if people called Blair started resigning just for telling a lie or two?