Now under-fire Mitchell says: I didn’t swear at police
‘His position is untenable. He is toast’
ANDREW Mitchell was clinging to his job last night as Downing Street struggled to contain open revolt over his future.
The Chief Whip was effectively put on probation as he was ordered to try to ‘rebuild relations’ with MPs furious at the controversy caused by his row with Downing Street police.
The abrasive Cabinet minister caused further consternation by appearing to change his story – insisting he did not swear at officers who told him he should use a side gate rather than have the main entrance specially opened for him and his bicycle.
Mr Mitchell’s deputy John Randall had to be talked out of quitting last night, and sources said at least one other whip – whose job is to maintain party discipline –was considering resigning rather than work under him.
Previously, Mr Mitchell’s allies had not disputed that he swore during the altercation, though they firmly reject police claims that he called officers ‘plebs’ and ‘morons’. The Chief Whip had been understood to be claiming that he told an officer: ‘You guys are supposed to ****ing help us.’
Labour leader Ed Miliband used Prime Minister’s Questions to claim Mr Mitchell is ‘toast’ and accuse David Cameron of ‘ total double standards’ for supporting police in arresting yobs who swear at officers but refusing to sack his own minister.
But sitting on the government frontbench, the Chief Whip was seen mouthing the words: ‘I didn’t swear.’
Tory MP Michael Fabricant, a whip until last month’s reshuffle, said: ‘Several MPs have confirmed to me that Andrew Mitchell did indeed say “I didn’t swear”.
‘This puts a whole new light on the issue. Labour were never going to let the story go away, but now he has managed to re-ignite it himself.’
At a meeting of the backbench 1922 committee last night, five MPs – Anne Main, James Duddridge, Andrew Percy, Sarah Wollaston and Philip Davies – openly questioned Mr Mitchell’s position.
Another three said they felt he should have resigned earlier on and they were only backing him because it would be even messier to throw him overboard now.
Mr Percy complained the row had become so widely discussed that he had had to listen to sermons in church on Mr Mitchell’s behaviour. However, more than ten MPs, including Bernard Jenkin, chairman of the public administration committee, spoke in his favour. Sources said the mood had largely been against giving the Police Federation – which has been waging a campaign to force Mr Mitchell out of his job – a scalp.
Some MPs said they felt sorry for Mr Mitchell because he appeared to have lost weight and now cuts a ‘pitiful figure’.One senior source said the Chief Whip would now have to work hard to build credibility with MPs.
In a less than resounding endorsement of Mr Mitchell’s position, a senior figure in the party admitted that his job was safe only because ‘no new facts’ have emerged in the last month and that MPs judged it would have been ‘a messy ending’ to see him quit now.
In the Commons, Mr Miliband pointed to Mr Mitchell and insisted he should have been arrested. ‘While it is a night in the cell for the yobs, it is a night at the Carlton Club for the Chief Whip. Isn’t that the clearest case there could be of total double standards?’ he said. ‘His position is untenable. In other words, he is toast.’
Mr Cameron replied: ‘ What the Chief Whip did and said were wrong. I am absolutely clear about that. That is why it was important that the Chief Whip apologised and that apology was accepted.’ Last night Mr Mitchell’s denial that he swore at the police was challenged by officers who met with him to discuss the incident.
Stuart Hinton, of the Warwickshire Police Federation, tweeted: ‘Having been in the meeting with Mitchell on Friday and having asked questions, I am now confused – he told us he DID swear!’
Cabinet minister Kenneth Clarke said: ‘The Police Federation are trying to remind us they are a powerful trade union. Most people have at some time lost their temper, said something they should not, and had to apologise fairly abjectly afterward when they felt ashamed of themselves.’
CHIEF Whips are meant to command respect among MPs. But after his tirade against police, and his pitiful attempts to defend himself, will Andrew Mitchell excite anything but ridicule?
Last night, he was clinging on – helped, paradoxically, by the Tories’ justified contempt for the Police Federation’s efforts to exploit his discomfort in their campaign against cuts in police perks. But this paper will not be putting money on his long-term future.