Stop and search - a taste of things to come.

As protestors drifted away from the Sheraton and the "ordinary public" started to arrive for work, we got a taste of what Britain might be like post the introduction of ID cards.

Anyone, from cleaners to bosses wanting to pass the front of the hotel, or turn up for work at their office behind it had to show some identification and give reason for their presence there. No ID meant no entry to the "sterile area", and if you happened to look anything other than middle class there was a good chance of a trip across the road for a more thorough going over (see pix).