Hi °C | Lo °C Why is Tory whip Andrew Mitchell still in a job?
True, what exactly Mitchell said to Downing Street policemen is in dispute. He may or may not have used the word "pleb" or reminded them that they should know their place. Mitchell denies it strongly.
But he has confirmed that he was foul-mouthed at policemen doing their duty. Indeed, trying to limit the damage, he has apologised for his language.
While the media has gotten all in a tizz about a rich former merchant banker shouting at working men, they seem to have overlooked that he was swearing at the police.
Would you or I get away with that? No - nor should we. No one "deserves" to be sworn at for doing their jobs. It may sound old-fashioned but it's just not acceptable behaviour. Yet it's even more unacceptable when it's the police. They are there to uphold the law. We may not like it, we may be peeved at how they carry out their job, but they are the first line of defence against what's out there. If government ministers don't show due respect for the upholders of the law, what hope is there for us? And in Manchester last week two of them - PC Nicola Hughes and Fiona Bone - laid down their lives for us. (Of course, we in Northern Ireland know only too well the heroism of policemen and women throughout more than 40 years of violence.)
Like the Downing Street coppers, PCs Hughes and Bone were only doing their job - a job that involves the possibility of being gunned down in the street by thugs.
That is why they deserve respect - and that is why Mitchell is unfit for government.
