We'll get to the truth on Tomlinson. But the journey won't be cheap
• And so a new chapter opens in the long-running saga to discover just what happened to poor Ian Tomlinson and whether any individual can be held responsible. As we report elsewhere, PC Simon Harwood, an officer in the Met, will face criminal prosecution for striking Tomlinson with a baton and pushing him to the ground during the G20 protests in April 2009. The wheels of justice will turn, as they should, but they turn slowly and the process is never cheap. During this month's inquest into the death of Tomlinson – which found unlawful killing – the officer was accompanied to and from the hearing by two fellow constables and one police sergeant, also members of his unit, the Territorial Support Group (TSG). Over three days, that alone, we learn, cost the taxpayer £2,300.
• Still, we live, we learn. And they teach many things in the army: when to advance, when to retreat, lessons well taught to Patrick Mercer, the Tory MP for Newark, and 25 years a soldier. As he spoke at the House of Commons on Monday, all of his strategic skills were on display. Addressing a meeting organised by the Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers, and a dozen members of both houses, Mercer told them that all the men under his command had loved every minute of it; he'd never heard an unhappy word from any of them. You're "talking bollocks", cried a member of the invited audience. This turned out to be the author of The Skinback Fusiliers, a no-holds-barred exposé. He told Mercer in no uncertain terms that life at Catterick Garrison was very far from happy, a view reinforced by another speaker, Lynn Farr, who set up "Daniel's Trust" after her son died at Catterick in suspicious circumstances. Points both critics were keen to raise with the Tory action man. But pretty quickly, he was gone.
• And following the sudden disappearance of Bahrain's ruler, King Hamad al-Khalifa, from the list of attendees at last month's royal wedding, the issue of the brutal suppression of popular protest in Bahrain looms again for the Queen – in the shape of a horse. Not just any horse. The Queen's three-year-old Carlton House is hot favourite for the Derby at Epsom on 4 June. The colt, as a yearling, was a gift from Sheikh Mohammed, who is the ruler of Dubai, its defence minister and vice-president of the United Arab Emirates. The UAE has sent 500 troops plus armoured vehicles to Bahrain where they were welcomed by al-Khalifa, who said they would be used to "secure stability" in the kingdom. The UAE has also sent troops and police to Saudi Arabia to help "guard government buildings". If Carlton House, trained in Newmarket by Sir Michael Stoute, wins a fortnight on Saturday it would be the first royal winner of the Derby in 102 years. No wonder the Windsors are excited. Principles are principles, it is true. But then, a gift's a gift.
• Shock in Brussels where Ukip MEPs are coming to terms with the defection of David Campbell Bannerman to the Conservatives. No warning from him, apparently; just crowing from the Tories. But we should have known, dejected Ukipians say. The defection deal was apparently struck a month ago over steaks with the enemy in Piccadilly. But just last week Campbell Bannerman joined five Tories on a jolly to Taiwan. That's strange, the Ukipians said, we don't take junkets; what's he up to. So the signs were there. Still hurts.
• Finally, Buckingham Palace was the place to be yesterday, but, slowly, the masses are gathering in London's Mayfair. They gather for the Hef. Not Simon Heffer, unfortunately. No, Hugh Hefner who is flying over from Los Angeles for tomorrow's launch of a new Playboy Club. So many look forward to greeting him with their slogan "Eff Off, Hef!". The new club is opening 30 years after the closure of its predecessor establishment, which was also based in Mayfair. It was targeted by a police raid and then by the licensing authorities. No such risk this time, for everything will be above board, and in any event our police long ago got bored of raiding nightclubs. So save for the protest, everything is set fair. With cheers and leers, Hef, now 85, can proceed in his own grubby way.