The truth will always out in time is a concept I have always believed in and is why having seen the Film, the Fifth Estate yesterday and considered some of the available material I am inclined to still believe that what Wikileaks has done is a good thing overall, despite the shortcomings of its single minded creator and some at times dodgy decision taking which put at risk the kind of people he set out to also protect, the Whistleblowers. However the relatives of those who died at Hillsborough or those who were branded as having caused the disaster may have still to wait a further year or more before the truth is finally available as are likely the victims of Jimmy Saville.
For Andrew Mitchell the former Cabinet Member and Government Chief Whip the truth took a giant step to day when the Prime Minister, following on from the Home Secretary yesterday effectively called on The Chief Constables of West Mercia, Warwickshire and the West Midlands to resign for backing the changing of the report of their senior investigation officer that the three senior police officer, then Chairman of the West Mercia Police Federation and the Secretaries of the West Midlands and Warwickshire Police should be disciplined for wilfully lying to the media and to the rest of us over what was to have been a private meeting with Mr Mitchell a year ago, as a means of bringing him down as part of their campaign against Government financial cuts and changes to service conditions of the police. If the Chief Constables took the decision to change the report or turned a blind eye that the recommendations of their investigation officer were being changed from action to no action they have a case to answer and given their high profile position and the high profile nature of the case anything less than resignation will not do and this is why the matter was raised yesterday with the Home Secretary at a scheduled meeting of the House of Commons Home Affairs Committee
It is evident that the truth has been brewing ever since the Deputy Chair of the Independent Police Complaints Commission learned that the original recommendation that the officers had a case to answer that they had wilfully lied to the media about what happened at the meeting with Mr Mitchell was replaced by the conclusion that they did not and that no further action should be taken against them. It is understood that there was communication about this situation and with the Chief Constables unwilling to review their decision, the untreatable concern of the IPCC deputy was made published in a short statement published yesterday morning
The statement reminds that the original incident involving Mr Mitchell, then Cabinet Minister and Chief Tory party Whip took place on September 19. Mr Mitchell has admitted and apologised for losing his temper and swearing under his breath at a police officer outside the gates of Downing Street. but he has always denied saying they were morons, plebs and such like which officers in their statements claimed, for which officers were subsequently arrested and where a report has now been handed by the Metropolitan police to the Director of Public prosecutions.
It then emerged that the Police Federation with professional advisers decided to target their campaign against the cuts on the alleged behaviour of Mr Mitchell at the Tory Party Conference in Birmingham in an area where Mr Mitchell is the elected Member of Parliament for Sutton Coldfield and where I stopped for a hair cut on my way to the 20 20 Finals day at Edgbaston earlier this year.
The Police Federation in the Midland then invited The Minister to meet them and explain himself and the evidence is now that the meeting was a set up to press for the resignation of the Minister. Mr Mitchell appreciating what the meeting was about agreed but took the precaution of taking along his press officer who unknown to the officers recorded the meeting which lasted 45 minutes. Although the meeting was a private one the media had been informed and the three Federation officers made statements in which they claimed that although Mr Mitchell had been given the opportunity to explain himself he had not done so and they called for him to resign. Given the pressure in the media and in Parliament he did this a week later. However by December the police story was unravelling when it emerged that the witness, and alleged member of the Public who had witnessed the altercation was in fact a police officer who had not been anywhere near the actual incident. There is therefore evidence of a conspiracy against Mr Mitchell and the extent of this may or may not emerge from whatever action the DPP considers taking.
Given the discrepancy between what Mr Mitchell actually said at the meeting and recorded and what the Federation representatives had to say there was no alternative for the Police authorities to investigate and they reported this to the IPCC who agreed that they should proceed but under their supervision.
The official but altered report of the Investigating officer was received by the IPCC in August and it therefore can be assumed that the IPCC has been attempting to persuade the Chief Constables to reconsider their conclusion to take no further action since then and faced with their refusal took the unprecedented course of expressing their disagreement.
In the statement the deputy IPCC chair recognises that the two parties had a different agenda before the meeting, Mr Mitchell to explain what he had and had not said outside of Downing Street and to apologise for any offence given from his behaviour. Mr Mitchell gives his apology at the start of the meeting and did so without qualification mentioning that the officer concerned had accepted the apology. He hoped to be to move on. He made the apology several times saying he had always been a great supporter and defender of the police in his area, and in general.
Mr Mitchell is then closely questioned by the Warwickshire Chairman about what he said and did say. Mr Mitchell admits that he said under his breath I thought you lot here were to fking help me and that he did not say the man was a fing moron or did not know his fking place. He had not clarified with the media at the time because to do so would have in effect called the police making their statements liars and he had not wanted to exacerbate the already inflamed situation.
It is evident from the prolonged questioning and which amazes me that Mr Mitchell put up with it, that having not got the initial response they expected and wanted they switched to pressing Mr Mitchell to say that the officers at Downing Street had been liars in their subsequent statement and is so they had to pursue the matter because they could not afford to have bad apples in their barrel even if Mr Mitchell did not want to press the matter. The meeting closed on this basis
The Warwickshire Federation man is recorded as saying and his actual words merit stating “ and I “appreciate that you agreed to meet and we appreciate and we accept that you apologised but we can’t get passed unfortunately is to use the political expression we may have bad apples which we now have to address.
The meeting lasted 45 minutes and Mr Mitchell should have left the meeting feeling that the Police Federation representative would make clear to media what he had said to them
When investigated under caution by Warwickshire supervised by the IPC the three officers, presumably unaware of the recording maintained that when given the opportunity to tell them what happened he had not done so and then argued that the view was backed up by what he subsequently said several months after their meeting.
Despite this the official Warwickshire inquiry as reported by the Chief Constables concluded that while what they had said to media contributed to his decision to resign there was no case to answer for misconduct. They concluded that while what was said to the media was ambiguous or misleading there was no deliberate intention to lie. However the officers and the Police Federation should learn by the matter.
The Chief Constables stated view is that the three officers did not deliberately give a false view and therefore that a case for Gross Misconduct or Misconduct was not made out. The deputy chair then states clearly that the Chief Constables are wrong and that the officers were not being naive and with poor judgement and that their response to the media must or should have been prepared for.
She states that the motives of the officers is plain. They were running a successful high profile anti cuts media campaign and the account Mr Mitchell provided them did not fit into their agenda. She explains that because Mr Mitchell has chosen not to make a formal complaint the IPCC cannot press the matter further but because of their supervisory role she believed it was important to publish her disagreement with them over their decision.
Yesterday The Home Secretary was appearing before the Home Affairs Committee of the House of Commons to discuss the work of the New National Crime Agency but was questioned about the IPCC statement at the commencement of the meeting. She also took the view that disciplinary proceedings should have been taken against the officers and that the Chief Constables should give Mr Mitchell a public apology. Today Sir Hugh Orde Chairman of the Police Federation took the approach of wanting to leave the matter for the Chief Constables to put their viewpoint to the House of Commons Home Affairs Committee at a special meeting arranged for next Wednesday.
To day the chairman of the Committee then asked the Prime Minister for his views at Prime Minister’s Question Time and the Prime Minister endorsed what was said by the Home Secretary. The future of the Chief Constables especially of the West Mercia Police must now be in question, They have a clear choice discipline and sack the three officers and apologise to Mr Mitchell in public or go themselves. I cannot see anything less satisfying the Parliament and Public, or as it has been said, if they can be allowed to bring down a Government Minister what about the rest of us, Hillsborough will not be forgotten.
From being top of the news at the BBC it had dropped to almost the end of the programme before the announcement of report alteration was mentioned following further information circulated from the IPCC. This made it top news for ITV at 6.30 and then to a studio interview on Channel 4 where the police commissioner of one authority who bleated on about the IPCC and that the officers concerned were being crucified in the media was made to look even more foolish when adding he did not know that the appointed investing officer had come to one conclusion and his superior officer another.
Tonight Nick Robinson simplified the issue that there was a growing number of politicians who were not of the view that the police systematically covers up its own wrong doing. The Chairman of the Commons Select Committee also agreed that this latest twist made it even more important that the Three Chief Constables explained themselves. They, the Police Federation and the Association of Chief Constables now stand in the dock. How do you plead they will be asked next Wednesday.
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