Does the shooting represent a setback for Prime Minister Tony Blair?
Tony Blair is content to let the police launch its own investigation to see exactly went wrong in this case. Number 10 has also reiterated its support of the security services and the police in this difficult situation of trying to trace the bombers still at large. But this is the last thing the prime minister needs at the moment. He is going out of his way to stress the importance of close community relations and get the police working to try to bring everybody together at a time when the attackers appear to want to try to divide society. The last thing he needs politically is for an innocent man to be shot, and to be shot so publicly in front of so many horrified witnesses.
