In a marked departure from the attitude he would have taken in office, George Osborne’s newspaper has published a guide to today’s Black Lives Matter protests, set to begin in Hyde Park. The Standard advises those choosing to break the lockdown to wear “non-identifiable clothing” to make it harder for the police to identify criminals, and which won’t help with organisers’ first request of “remain peaceful”. The organisers also envisage the need for “shatter resistant Swimming Goggles” and “shoes you can run in” for a planned “peaceful protest”…

The Standard also directs readers to the website of Green and Black Cross, an anarchist legal aid service that is avowedly anti-police. If the paper’s retail advertisers get their windows smashed in this afternoon, am sure they will appreciate the advice given to those planning looting and rampaging. Guido’s not sure The Standard’s crime and coronavirus-riddled London audience will thank them for the stance they’ve taken on this one…