Harriet Harman says that sporting a stab vest on a stroll around Peckham was like wearing a white hairnet at a meat factory, or a hard hat at a building site.

When John Humphrys, on the Radio 4 “Today” programme, exclaimed

You wear a hard hat on a building site because... there is the danger that something might drop on your head. You don't need to wear a bullet-proof vest on the streets of London, do you?

Ms Harman responded

No of course you don't.  It was just a courtesy, there was no security issue whatsoever, it was almost like wearing the kit when you go out with the team.

Is that the same team that don’t deserve a back-dated pay rise, or is it the team of Military Police who couldn’t have a full complement of bullets in Iraq, or the team that had to share flak jackets in the Iraqi war zone (but unfortunately for one there weren’t enough to go around)?

Could our politicians hold us in any more contempt than they already do?

All animals are equal - but some are more equal than others!