Police powers for 2012 Olympics

What is intriguing is that we are only reading about these 2006 laws now ... Anyhow, the bit that struck me from this report is this:

"The police should take a deep breath and read the excellent report from the chief inspector of constabulary on the tolerance of protest. We should aim to show the Chinese that you can run a successful Olympics without cracking down on protesters and free speech"

Police powers for 2012 Olympics alarm critics | UK news | The Guardian: Again it seems that this government just doesn't 'get' civil liberties: the mantra that the powers would not be misused and are only be used against real baddies is remarkably naive, and in the light of recent policing issues around legitimate and largely peaceful protesters, is clearly so. (And maybe this is why we are hearing about this set of legal instruments now). I recently read a USAmerican slagging off the UK because of our surveillance and potentially brutal laws in respect of civil liberties, and for the first time in a decade felt that actually the USA might have the better of us in this respect...