Bully Boys in Blue? The Metropolitan Police Territorial Support Group

Writing about this story on BBC News.

In 1979 a 31 year old teacher named Blair Peach was beaten and killed by officers of the Metropolitan Police's notorious 'Territorial Support Group', the same unit that went on to kill Ian Tomlinson in 2009.

John Cass, a senior police officer, wrote a report on the killing at the time but this report has been suppressed by the Met and the British Government.

Jack Straw, the current Justice Secretary, was a backbench MP at the time of the killing who attempted to force the Government to publish the report. He now as the opportunity to do so but probably will not because his Department, and that of the Home Office, has become a virtual facade for the shadowy 'Association of Chief Police Officers' - a trade union that has usurped the powers of a Government department:

I wrote the below letter to Justice Secretary Jack Straw - I urge you to do the same.

Dear Mr. Straw,

I am writing to you in your capacity as a Parliamentarian in reference to Inquest's call for the publication of the 'Cass Report' on the death of Blair Peach in 1979. I understand that you called for a public inquiry at the time, but that the request was rejected by the then Tory government.

The Met claims that they cannot publish the report as they cannot 'act in a manner that could cause distress'. Since when did the Met care about causing distress? Causing distress seems to be their standard operating procedure when dealing with people they are prejudiced against such as striking miners, protesters or those who they have accused of crime, regardless if there is any evidence of such a crime (something you have condoned in law with Enhanced CRB checks!).

Publish the report; why should the police benefit from protections that innocent members of the public have been denied? If the police have done nothing wrong then surely they have nothing to fear?