The Boiling Frog: PlebGate

Tuesday, 18 December 2012

PlebGate

It's hard to know what to make of so-called 'plebgate' with so many differing accounts. Taking sides between the government and the police seems an anathema to me. But with more evidence it does appear that the Met have yet again acted above the law:

[Chief Whip Andrew Mitchell] spoke out during a Channel 4 News programme which alleged that a police officer had posed as a member of the public backing the police's story.

None of this will come as a surprise to us 'plebs', used to such actions for years, but there however is a perverse satisfaction to be had that such plod behaviour has reached the upper echelons of government:

Mr Mitchell said: "And it's certainly shaken my lifelong support and confidence in the police.

You don't say...

3 comments:

Lord Galleywood19 December 2012 at 00:52
It is a very hard one to fathom out - Who would you trust an MP or a copper, the balls in your court there.
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James Higham19 December 2012 at 16:52
Bloody plebs the lot of 'em.
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thespecialone19 December 2012 at 19:56
But the original account still stands (notwithstanding that Mitchell admits swearing but does not admit calling the 2 x PCs plebs).

So is swearing at a police officer worse than calling a pleb?

I don't understand what the off duty officer was doing to be sure and that should be investigated. But by 30 officers? You have less officers on a truly serious crime.

The whole thing has got out of hand and I believe that a lot of political pressure has come forward. The Tory party loathe the police, hence they have brought in Winsor.
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The British Government Knew The Consequences In 1971

Foreign and Commonwealth Office 30/1048 - 1971

...the transfer of major executive responsibilities to the bureaucratic Commission in Brussels will exacerbate popular feeling of alienation from government. To counter this feeling, strengthened local and regional democratic processes within the member states and effective Community regional economic and social policies will be essential.

Parliamentary sovereignty will be affected as we have seen. But the need for Parliament to play an increasing (if perhaps more specialised) role may develop. Firstly, although a European Parliament might in the longest term become an effective, directly elected democratic check upon the bureaucracy, this will not be for a long time, and certainly not in the decade to come. In the interval, to minimise the loss of democratic control it will be important that the British Parliamentarians should play an effective role both through the British membership in the European Parliament and through the processes of the British Parliament itself.

Test

Tuesday, 18 December 2012

PlebGate

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