I suppose it had to happen. We are all angry at how we have all been affected right across the board by the worldwide credit crunch and, very justly, it was right that the people make their voice heard in London today.

But the message got lost in the violence.

There is a way to protest and there is a way to come across as ignorant thugs…which is what has happened today. Police should not be defending themselves with batons. Those protestors had one hell of a message to get across and with the 20 economic leaders in town it was a good chance to let them know just how people feel about things.

No doubt there are genuine demonstrators in London today but unfortunately their chance to be vocal has been hijacked by the usual thug element. You have the right to protest, so why the covered faces…?

The UK is awash with violence at the best of times these days – it is such a shame that ‘anti-violence’ had nothing to do with todays events.

The biggest networking exercise of the century (so far) is now underway in London. The leaders of the worlds major economies have gathered together to basically blame each other for the world economic crisis and to find a way to worm their way out of it.

Three of the leaders in particular have a lot to prove over the coming days; Gordon Brown, the most unpopular PM in British history, needs to score some points for the next election…good luck mate but you ain’t fooling anyone. US President and ‘Most Powerful Man on Earth’ Barack Obama is out to show he really is the saviour of mankind; and French Prezzy Nicolas Sarkozy will push the French interest…and that is to basically object to the talks being conducted in english and nix anything which is not ‘French’ enough.

The protests are in full swing as I write and whether you agree with them or not at least the UK offers the freedom of speech that some of the nations represented do not…

Some areas of the media are taking all this very seriously while others are more intrigued by the contents of Michelle Obamas handbag. There will be a lot of back-patting and self congratulatory speeches as is usual when you get a lot of powerful men together, I wonder how much more effective this summit would be if the G20 Wags were meeting and talking instead…

This reflects both the positive and negative side of capitalism; I cannot afford to be a capitalist right now but if I could I suppose I would be all for it – the only other option is communism, which is not a runner, but then again it suits the French down to the ground.

 And I am sure Sarkozy will resist all efforts to encourage him to pour more money into the rigidly over-regulated French economy, but they can always try before he walks out in protest.

But, being French, maybe he’ll stick around for the food…