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		Letter to the Editor Thursday 16th September 2004 Dear Sir, I have been horrified by the scenes of brutality in Parliament Square yesterday. This was not a rampaging mob of left wing anarchists throwing chairs through McDonalds' windows or vandalising historical statues. It was a group of peaceful country folk desperately concerned about their very future. The attacks by the police on largely peaceful protesters against a hunting ban were a disgrace both to the police themselves and to the British tradition of peaceful protest. This Labour government has introduced a hunt bill not out of principle, or concern for animal welfare, but as a cynical bribe to the rabid class-warriors on the Labour back benches. There can be little doubt that the same Labour government briefed the police to take a tough line with protesters. It is a sad day for civil liberties and democracy. I should like to apologise to the protesters, and especially to those from the East Midlands, that I was not there with them. Had I been in Brussels, I should have come back for the day on Eurostar, but I was in Strasbourg for a plenary session of the European parliament and could not get back. Next time, I'll be there. Opinion polls show that some 98% of voters believe that parliament and the police should have something more important to do than worry about hunting. What does it take to make this pig-headed government listen? Yours sincerely, Roger Helmer MEP