Skip to main contentSkip to navigationSkip to navigation
Andrew Mitchell
Andrew Mitchell has apologised to the police, and the individual officer has declined to lodge a formal complaint. Photograph: Nick Ansell/PA
Andrew Mitchell has apologised to the police, and the individual officer has declined to lodge a formal complaint. Photograph: Nick Ansell/PA

Andrew Mitchell to meet Police Federation members over 'plebs' row

This article is more than 11 years old
Federation seeking clarification and apology, as Daily Telegraph joins calls for under-pressure chief whip to resign

Andrew Mitchell will meet members of the Police Federation on Friday as he fights to clear his name after he swore at armed officers in Downing Street.

The chief whip, who is facing calls from Tory MPs to stand down, suffered another setback on Friday when the Daily Telegraph called on him to resign.

In a leading article, the paper wrote: "If he stays, Mr Mitchell can do little good, and much damage. For the sake of his party, he should do the decent thing and stand down."

David Cameron and George Osborne are standing by Mitchell on the grounds that he has apologised to the police and the individual officer has declined to lodge a formal complaint.

But the pressure on Mitchell shows no signs of abating because of police claims that he described the officers as "plebs". Many Tories fear that this is a toxic claim that undermines Cameron's pledge in his conference speech to spread privilege to all groups in society.

Mitchell will meet members of the Police Federation in his Sutton Coldfield constituency office.

Simon Payne, chairman of Warwickshire Police Federation, told the Times: "The issue is not a complicated one. All we are seeking is clarification on what was said, an apology, then we want to move on … This can be done and dusted, all be done in 30 seconds, then we can move on to important issues of policing."

Yvette Cooper, the shadow home secretary, said the prime minister should sack Mitchell because the row had led to a "completely untenable" situation in which Cameron was unable to mention the police in his conference speech.

Cooper said: "This has gone on long enough. Neither the prime minister nor the chief whip have proved capable of coming clean swiftly and putting this right. And it is now clear no one even in the Conservative party has confidence in Andrew Mitchell either.

"The failure by David Cameron and Andrew Mitchell to take this incident seriously enough and to sort it out straight away means Andrew Mitchell will clearly not be able to instil respect in parliament or beyond as chief whip, and this will just drag on and on. David Cameron needs to put an end to this now and remove Andrew Mitchell from his position."

Most viewed

Most viewed