Guido’s post 3 hour lunch cigar.  Off now to the Adam Smith Institute to give a speech…

Labour MP Tom Harris has the details on his blog, however Guido wants to clarify one point.  When Andy Burnham referred  in the Commons debate to Guido’s unexpected support for the Bill (see previous They’ll Have to Prise the Keyboard Out of Guido’s Cold Dead Hand), it was of course support only in jest – and incidentally a breach of confidence by Burnham, since this was a jest made in a supposedly off-the-record consultation in his offices, following his request for a meeting.

Since this blog is hosted offshore, published by an offshore company and written by a foreign citizen, it won’t really make any difference to Guido – unless Britain invades Ireland again. You can’t regulate Guido, ask Mrs Fawkes…

The trustafarian anti-capitalists having taken quite a beating in last few matches in the City:

The 1999 Carnival Against Capitalism saw  an estimated 5,000 people converge on the London International Financial Futures Exchange (LIFFE).   In the early afternoon a small group of protesters broke into the exchange building, smashed up the reception area and tried to access the LIFFE trading floor, but were repelled by LIFFE traders in hand-to-hand fighting on the escalators.  Outraged floor traders counter-attacked and drove terrified protestors out of the building.

However, the 2005 match saw the anti-capitalists take their worst beating so far.  This post match report from The Times gives a flavour:

WHEN 35 Greenpeace protesters stormed the International Petroleum Exchange (IPE) yesterday they had planned the operation in great detail. What they were not prepared for was the post-prandial aggression of oil traders who kicked and punched them back on to the pavement. “We bit off more than we could chew. They were just Cockney barrow boy spivs. Total thugs,” one protester said, rubbing his bruised skull. “I’ve never seen anyone less amenable to listening to our point of view.”

Another said: “I took on a Texan Swat team at Esso last year and they were angels compared with this lot.” Behind him, on the balcony of the pub opposite the IPE, a bleary-eyed trader, pint in hand, yelled: “Sod off, Swampy.”

Protesters conceded that mounting the operation after lunch may not have been the best plan. “The violence was instant,” Jon Beresford, 39, an electrical engineer from Nottingham, said. They were set upon by traders, most of whom were under the age of 25. “They were kicking and punching men and women indiscriminately,” a photographer said. “It was really ugly, but Greenpeace did not fight back.”

Mr Beresford said: “They followed the guys into the lobby and kept kicking and punching them there. They literally kicked them on to the pavement.” Last night Greenpeace said two protesters were in hospital, one with a suspected broken jaw, the other with concussion.

G20 protestors really do not want to meet a Lloyd’s Broker who has just had his gin and tonic spilt…

UPDATE : Am a bit worried that Miss Fawkes, aged 1 and 1/2, could be an anti-capitalist saboteur.  Have just spent an hour searching for wallet hidden by her.  Hmm…