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Commissioner Sir Paul Stephenson praised the Met's handling of the protests.
Speaking in the wake of Mr Tomlinson's death, he said: “The overwhelming majority of officers, whatever the stress or provocation, carried out their duties in a professional manner and I want to give them credit for what they achieved.
“Part of the headlines should be... Astonishing operation pulled off by the Met who did a first-class job'.”
He said the use of containment started after a demonstration in June 1999 when protesters caused £13 million of damage. “We ... developed a policy of graduated control, which at some point may involve containment. If there is a better way to do it we are up for learning it, but we don't know of a way.”
Commander Bob Broadhurst, in charge of policing the G20 protests, said he had not seen any actions by his officers that had caused him concern. Giving evidence to the Home Affairs select committee he said they had followed their training in “challenging conditions”.
