Plebgate Mp Andrew Mitchell Called Officer A 'little ***'????

[anotheoldgit]

If these allegations prove true, it could put a complete different slant to the 'Pleb' affair.

/// Mr Mitchell is alleged to have responded to the officer’s request by saying, “I’m a member of parliament and I’m too important to stop for you.” When the officer responded that he “didn’t care” who Mr Mitchell was, the MP reportedly said, “Stop being so aggressive, you little ***.” ///

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/plebgate-mp-andrew-mitchells-record-of-abusing-police-exchief-whip-called-officer-little-st-claim-court-documents-9746501.html

[mikey4444]

Whether Mitchell said this or didn't doesn't alter the facts that the Police lied and lied and lied over this case. The Police are their own worst enemy at times.

[Jomlett]

The Sun can't plead genuine reasons so they are pleading justification by hearsay.

[Peter Pedant]

I am completely for Mr Mitchell in this

If someone is there 'to protect' you then they should do that
They arent there remotely to conspire to remove that person and get someone else they like better.

[jno]

talking like that should cost Mitchell his job.... but it already has, so he's paid the price, though perhaps for the wrong item. The question now is whether the police told the truth or whether they conspired to disrupt a democratically elected government.

[whiskeryron]

I have always maintained that there is more to this case than we have been told.

[Peter Pedant]

// The question now is whether the police told the truth or whether they conspired to disrupt a democratically elected government.//

is that really a question ?

The current case (remaining) I think is the libel action
bit of a non starter I think
but we will have to wait and see

[jno]

I don't know, WR, Mitchell's always admitted swearing, he just insisted he didn't call anyone a pleb. Which appears to be the case.

How this affects his libel case, I don't know. The Sun will be claiming he didn't have a reputation to lose if he has a history of rudeness. He will be claiming it was a single piece of Sun misreporting that cost him his job. I'll leave it to the court to decide.

[Hopkirk]

I'm coming round to Whiskeryron's view now.

I suspect Dave knew all along too.

[ludwig]

It was always a mystery to me why the police would want to fabricate stories about the man to try and get him sacked. If his previous behaviour is anything like it's reported to be, that's no longer a mystery, but it doesn't excuse their behaviour.

It sounds like everyone involved in the whole pathetic waste of time is a either a liar, an obnoxious t0sspot, or both. Good riddance to any one of them who gets the sack.

[sandyRoe]

"I'm a member of parliament and I'm too important to stop for you..." That doesn't sound right, doesn't ring true, somehow.

[Ellipsis]

It's literally unbelievable that he'd be allowed by the Press and all others concerned to get away with the reported behaviour for so long, coincidentally all the way up to Plebgate ... and even more unbelievable that he'd then be daft enough to sue The Sun for libel when he knew they had this on him, rather than rest on his moral high ground.

Still, we will see The Sun's evidence in court, presumably.

[Hypognosis]

@jno

He may not have uttered the word 'pleb' but what part of "I'm a member of parliament and I'm too important to stop for you..." fails to embody the very essence of the word?

I think it is a trick of the brain to save memory consumption by condensing the facts of an incident into words which convey what happened effectively, in as few words as possible, like an editor does. This certainly saves time if you want to relate the story, verbally, to someone who wasn't there to see it for themself.

So, the policemens' first mistake was to deploy time-saving language. Maybe not deliberate 'spin' but, as the story goes up the management chain, progressively less interested officers, edit further. "Pleb" might have originated somewhere amongst the management.

When it got to the people with the grudge about the pay structure, they pounced on the 'p'word and 'weaponised' it, so to speak.

Victims of their own machinations, if you ask me.

As Sandy said
//That doesn't sound right, doesn't ring true, somehow.//
"

[jno]

I'm pretty sure "pleb" was the word in all the headlines, though, hypognosis. Quite right too: it's short, blunt and arrogant. "I'm too important to stop for you" just doesn't have the same ring, even if it means much the same thing.

Actually, I don't think it has quite the same ring - "pleb" sounds much more class-ridden; "I'm too important" could be any footballer or rap star saying "Do you know who I am?"

It's the precise word, not just the meaning, that hit home; and the word wasn't spoken. That was fabrication of something important.

[jno]

I think this is the original Sun headline

http://www.anorak.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/sun.jpg

Classic tabloid headline word, short enough to run in huge upper case letters on their front page.

[Hypognosis]

Yes, probably the only industry where a full day's production can be substandard but they can still get paid for it (even boosting sales for a day, sometimes). There is no product recall and there are no refunds.

If newspapers had to wait 30 days for their pay, like people do and the organisation empowered to oversee that could dock them a day's worth of profits when stories turn out to be wrong, within that time frame, then they'd be a bit more careful about what they print.

As things stand, the current fine levels must be comfortably affordable given the way in which their habits fail to change.