James Forsyth James Forsyth

Olympic outrage

There has been understandable outrage about the role that those blue-tracksuited heavies played as the Olympic torch made its ignominious way round London. But now The Independent is reporting that these guards are members of the People’s Armed Police, a paramilitary force that has played a brutal role in putting down the recent protests in Tibet.

The government need to urgently tell the public what powers these goons were given, what visas they were on and what background checks were made to ensure that those directly responsible for gross abuses of human rights were not allowed to run around London’s streets. Holding the Olympics in China is one thing, allowing the People’s Armed Police to operate in the British capital is quite another.

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