The Metropolitan Police has insisted that George W Bush will not be hidden from protestors when he makes a state visit to the UK next week.

Deputy assistant commissioner Andy Trotter has insisted that the Met is in full control of the security arrangements for the US president's visit - despite the presence of 200 secret service officers in London.

"There is no intention to spare anyone's embarrassment," he said. "It is not part of our policing plan. We will do what's necessary to balance security."

Foreign secretary Jack Straw has dismissed criticism of Bush's visit as "fashionable anti-Americanism".

He went on to argue that "many more" people would be protesting against the military action in Iraq than the numbers that campaigned against Saddam Hussein's "brutal, vicious" regime.

Meanwhile, the government and headteachers have criticised anti-Bush groups for encouraging children to skip school to attend a mass rally in Parliament Square next week.