The cost of the Met's public order policing for last year was revealed today, with the highest amount being £7.5m on the student fees protests. This sounds like a lot, but we can think of at least five demos, and of course the police were heavily criticised after the first march for not having a big enough presence and letting Millbank get trashed.
But what else did the Met spend their money on? The Notting Hill Carnival cost £6.3m to keep safe, embassy patrols - particularly of those countries affected by the Arab Spring - took up £6.5m (about time they started paying their bloody congestion charge), the Pope's visit cost £1.9m and Tony Blair's appearances at the Chilcot Inquiry cost nearly half a million quid. Half a million quid! Honestly, where's Johnny Marbles when you actually need him?
Photo by chrisjohnbeckett from the Londonist Flickr pool
