Duncan Campbell: Did the handling of the G20 protests reveal the future of policing?

When the main body of protesters arrived on Wednesday from four different directions at their planned destination of the Bank of England, they soon found themselves hemmed in from all sides by ranks of police. Requests to leave the area were refused. This is, in police terms, the "kettle".... There were certainly people anxious to smash windows and cause some mayhem in the City on Wednesday. But they were far outnumbered by a playful, peaceful, harmless group of protesters, including rappers, sax-players, jugglers, spliff-rollers, students, CND campaigners, passers-by, and men dressed as police officers and wearing blue lipstick. For many of them the intention had been to come and make a lunchtime April Fool's Day protest against the City and the banking world's self-indulgence, as well as to air concerns about everything from climate change to homelessness. But when many wanted to leave the area, hardly any were allowed to....