The first major memorial to go up in the Mall in eight years was unveiled a little while ago. The Queen was wheeled out to do the honours and expertly pulled on a little rope so that we could see the National Police Memorial - a column made of marble and glass and containing the names of 1,600 officers killed in the line of duty. The column was designed by architect Norman Foster and artist Per Arnoldi.
Oddly enough the idea came from veteran British director Michael Winner, perhaps most famous for his pro-vigilante Death Wish movies starring Charles Bronson.
Winner set up the Police Memorial Trust after the death of police officer Yvonne Fletcher in St. James's Square during the Libyan Embassy Siege and has been campaigning for a national memorial ever since.
Tony Blair, Michael Howard and Charles Kennedy took a couple of hours off from glad-handing to attend the ceremony.
NOTE: The above image is taken from the stunning Polish Poster Gallery.
