Andrew Mitchell Resigns Following Police Comments

(Posted on 20/10/12)

The head of government chief whip announced he'd be resigning following several weeks of pressure and discussions with Down Street police officers. He admitted to cussing officers during the incident, though he continued to deny some of the accusations, including those that said he called officers "plebs".

In a conversation with David Cameron, he said that the bad publicity prevents him from doing his job properly. It's said that Mitchell met with him privately and Prime Minister Cameron accepted his resignation. A new person, Former Commons leader Sir George Young, will be taking over Mitchell's responsibilities.

The Police Federation and Labour are calling this a victory, even though it means the quarter century career of Mitchell has been sullied.

The resignation letter is said to include a statement, "it has become clear to me that whatever the rights and wrongs of the matter I will not be able to fulfil my duties as we both would wish." You may recall Cameron opted to not fire Mitchell following the confrontations and instead stood by him. The letter goes on to say that he no longer wished to put his family and working colleagues through the "damaging and upsetting publicity". He also continues to deny using the word "plebs", and said the comment that so many honed in on was "I thought you guys were supposed to f---ing help us!" He apologized again for using the "F" word.

Meanwhile, others continue to insist the confrontation was far worse than the use of a derogatory comment. It's reported he told officers to learn their place and that they do not "run this government".

For now, many are saying Cameron opted to support the wrong side and that by supporting Mitchell, he looked "profoundly weak and totally out of touch".

For his part, PM Cameron said in a presser that he understood Mitchell's reasoning, though he regretted it had gone so far.

One Mitchell supporter was quoted as saying, "Somebody lost his temper. Frankly, big deal. All sorts of people lose their temper in their daily lives, it's part of human nature"

What do you think? Was this petty and unnecessary or did Mitchell cross a line? Do you support PM Cameron's choice to continue to support him?

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