*Nice to see at least someone has the balls to state the non-arse kissing obvious about George Bush's trip to the UK- that it is rather outrageous to invite someone who is regarded by much of the population as having waged an illegal and immoral war, expect them to pay for his trip and prevent them from expressing their dislike about points a and b;

"Ken Livingstone stepped into the row over the US president's state visit to London today, insisting that George Bush should witness those protesting against him, and that the capital's taxpayers should not foot the bill for his security.

Organisers of the various protests planned for Mr Bush's three-day visit are now in negotiations with police, after reports that a march down Whitehall to Parliament Square would be banned at the insistence of the White House.

The London mayor, who has already declined an invitation to meet the president and will be hosting a peace reception at City Hall instead, said any attempt to try and help Mr Bush avoid protesters would be "inconceivable".

Speaking at his weekly press conference, Mr Livingstone hoped there would not be a repeat of the "shameful" scenes that arose during the visit of President Jiang Zemin of China in 1999.

When he rode up The Mall, police stopped protesters from holding up protest banners and Tibetan flags.

"The Met police were requested by Foreign Office officials that the police should make sure he did not see the demonstrators," Mr Livingstone said.