Plebgate: PM says police owe Andrew Mitchell apology

[4me2]

Plebgate: PM says police owe Andrew Mitchell apology




David Cameron says Andrew Mitchell is owed an apology by police whose conduct "was not acceptable"




Andrew Mitchell is "owed an apology" by police over the "plebgate" row, Prime Minister David Cameron has said.

Mr Cameron told the Commons the conduct of three officers from the Police Federation towards the former minister was "not acceptable".
Three police chiefs have been criticised for their decision not to discipline the officers over their account of a meeting with Mr Mitchell.
The police chiefs will appear before a committee of MPs next week.
Home Affairs Select Committee chairman Keith Vaz said they had questions to answer.
On Tuesday, the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) said the officers should have faced misconduct hearings for misrepresenting what former chief whip Mr Mitchell said in a private meeting last October about a row at the gates of Downing Street the month before.


Mr Mitchell had been accused of describing policemen at Downing Street as "plebs" after they refused to let him through the gates with his bicycle.
As the row between the then-cabinet minister and the police intensified, Mr Mitchell met Insp Ken MacKaill, of West Mercia Police, Det Sgt Stuart Hinton, of Warwickshire Police, and Sgt Chris Jones, of West Midlands Police - acting on behalf of the Police Federation which represents rank-and-file officers - at his constituency office in Sutton Coldfield.
Speaking after the meeting, Insp MacKaill claimed the ex-chief whip would not provide an account of the incident and called for his resignation.
Mr Mitchell recorded the meeting and a transcript issued by the IPCC showed that he had spoken at length about what happened, and, while he admitted swearing, had denied using the word "pleb" or insulting the police.
It also showed that during that meeting, the Federation representatives said the integrity of their Metropolitan Police colleagues was "no longer intact".

'Better redress'

After an internal investigation into their account of the meeting, the chief constables of West Mercia, Warwickshire and West Midlands Police concluded there was no case to answer for misconduct.

But speaking at Prime Minister's Questions in the Commons, Mr Cameron said Mr Mitchell was "owed an apology - the conduct of these officers was not acceptable", and "these things should be properly investigated".
Home Secretary Theresa May has said the IPCC's report "made troubling reading". Meanwhile, the Crown Prosecution Service is deciding if charges should be brought against police officers involved in the original row in Downing Street.
Addressing MPs, Mr Cameron said: "I agree 100% with what the Home Secretary said...
"What's being discussed here is the fact that ... the former chief whip had a meeting with Police Federation officers in his committee...
"Fortunately this meeting was recorded, so he has been able to prove that what he said was true and what the police officers said was untrue."
Mr Cameron said it was right for the select committee to "discuss this with the chief constables concerned and try to get to the bottom of why better redress has not been given".

A spokesman for Number 10 said: "Incidents such as this do bring people to question their trust in the police."
But he went on to stress that the majority of officers "operate to the highest standards and do a very dangerous job on behalf of the public".
Dame Anne Owers and Deborah Glass, IPCC chairwoman and deputy chairwoman respectively, and Police Federation chairman Steve Williams have also been asked to appear before the select committee on 23 October.
In a statement on Tuesday, the three chief constables said they welcomed the opportunity to speak.
The decisions following the investigation had been "carefully considered", they said.
They added the IPCC had chosen not to exercise powers that would have allowed it to order the three forces to hold misconduct proceedings.
Later, the IPCC announced it had written to the three chief constables, as well as their police and crime commissioners, to correct "a number of inaccuracies in their recent public statements". It did not, however, publicly detail its concerns.
The Police Federation of England and Wales said it was "shocked" by the IPCC's comments which "will naturally undermine the considered findings of the investigation in the eyes of the public".
In a statement it said: "Either the IPCC are capable of supervising investigations or they are not. If they feel that they are capable of doing so, having had the opportunity to monitor and provide input into the process, the proper and responsible course must be to accept the investigation findings."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-24546370


Every single last one of these cunts should be sacked immediately with full loss of pensions and pay offs.

[Bald Bouncer]

Been following this and next Wednesday should be interesting with the three coppers and the woman from the IPCC in front of the committee, Andrew Mitchell is a total cunt and certainly admitted using the word 'fucking' and as 'Plebs' seems an odd word for them to make up I suspect he also used that but as is so common the Police have tried to bolster their own case and I don't see any defence for what the three coppers did.

Really stupid to not presume he was recording it (rookie mistake) as he wasn't lawyered up and agreed to meet them alone, the police return attack on the IPCC does not wash in my opinion as they have attacked them on two aspects first saying they could have investigated it themselves and not passed it to them which is really saying they can't be trusted to take an independent view so a shot in the foot. They also said well they asked them to investigate and are now arguing the conclusion of the investigation again I fail to see the logic in this as if you ask someone to do a job for you and they do what you consider a bad job should you say nothing because you asked them to do it.

[Over Carl]

Guy didn't have to loose his job. Could have stayed on until investigation was complete but I'm guessing the leaders of the tories probably had enough of the unwanted publicity and told him he had to quit.

So who owes him the biggest apology?

[Bald Bouncer]

Guy didn't have to loose his job. Could have stayed on until investigation was complete but I'm guessing the leaders of the tories probably had enough of the unwanted publicity and told him he had to quit.

So who owes him the biggest apology?

Personally I think the story was lost in the argument over pleb/s, what he did say for me was enough for him to step down.

[james ensor]

I believe that it is probable that Andrew Mitchell used the word Plebs as this was a common term of abuse at his school Rugby. It is likely that he attached a swear word to it. What is hard to understand is why he did not just admit this. Most people who have come across London police know from their own experience just how tiresome, awkward, time-wasting and aggressive they usually are. Most would have chosen far ruder words to describe their behavuiour when they deliberately and out of pure spite blocked his quick exit from a meeting with the PM.

The Old Etonian PM is obviously embarrased at the use of public school slang by his colleagues and doubtless asked Andrew Mitchell to resign. But now they have cleverly used a common police method to trap three policemen. Policemen in London regularly write down whatever they feel like and use it against their chosen victim. Honest reporting would be most unusual. Thiey do this in any circumstance and for any imagined offence usually just to blacken people for future use in Court. It is high time that their Gestapo tactics were stopped. London is the only city or county in Britain that does not have a Commissioner to control them. Let us all applaud Mitchell for catching them out, at their normal game.

[blaggard]

A very wordy first post....what a shame it wasn't in the intros section......please read your welcome message and the various section rules.

[Geko]

I believe that it is probable that Andrew Mitchell used the word Plebs as this was a common term of abuse at his school Rugby. It is likely that he attached a swear word to it. What is hard to understand is why he did not just admit this. Most people who have come across London police know from their own experience just how tiresome, awkward, time-wasting and aggressive they usually are. Most would have chosen far ruder words to describe their behavuiour when they deliberately and out of pure spite blocked his quick exit from a meeting with the PM.

The Old Etonian PM is obviously embarrased at the use of public school slang by his colleagues and doubtless asked Andrew Mitchell to resign. But now they have cleverly used a common police method to trap three policemen. Policemen in London regularly write down whatever they feel like and use it against their chosen victim. Honest reporting would be most unusual. Thiey do this in any circumstance and for any imagined offence usually just to blacken people for future use in Court. It is high time that their Gestapo tactics were stopped. London is the only city or county in Britain that does not have a Commissioner to control them. Let us all applaud Mitchell for catching them out, at their normal game.

I thought all Police were like that.