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Whipgate – So Andrew Mitchell was told not to use the Vehicle gate on his bike…

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  • September 25, 2012 at 6:24 am #16904
    alotronic

    All this hot water Andrew Mitchell is getting into was apparently caused because a police woman told him to use the pedestrian gate, not the vehicle gate when he was cycling out of Number 10. His line was that he had always ridden through the vehicle gate previously.

    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/conservative/9563847/Police-log-reveals-details-of-Andrew-Mitchells-pleb-rant.html

    So yes, he’s a prat, but I’m not sure that I wouldn’t have done the same thing if busy-bodied by a PC over something so trivial – though my class wouldn’t have shown as much!

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  • September 25, 2012 at 7:48 am #702011
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    drheaton

    It’s the police, they’re
    It’s the police, they’re doing an important job and if the letter of the statutes or whatever says he has to use the pedestrian gate then that’s what it says. If other police had been lenient with him in the past, or whether he got through behind other traffic when the gates were already open, that doesn’t matter. The police were just doing their job.

    What bothers me more than the ‘pleb’ comments or the general abuse is the comment:

    you learn your f—— place . . . you don’t run this f—— government

    It just shows that he thinks because he’s an MP he’s entitled to superior treatment, thinks he’s better than everyone else and can abuse underlings until he gets what he wants. That really bothers me because really, he works for us, he works for the people of this country and his place is determined by those who vote for him, he’s also paid to be an MP through my taxes just like the police therefore his role is not so different, he serves the public. That he thinks otherwise isn’t a surprise but his public school atitude of being better than the common man offends me.

    September 25, 2012 at 7:41 am #702009
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    SideBurn

    If as he claims he normally
    If as he claims he normally uses the vehicular gate, why on this occasion was he told not to? The police officers on ‘guard’ never look that busy? My worry is that two people who you should normally be able to trust to tell the truth (even if it is an economical version) are claiming different versions of events? The stories are not compatible either he said it or not; I do not know AM or the layout to have an opinion as to his attitude or whether they should have opened the gates or not. The vast majority of police officers are great but some do satisfy AM’s description shall we say?

    September 25, 2012 at 7:32 am #702007
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    alotronic

    I guess it all comes down to
    I guess it all comes down to prior use – if he has been cycling in and out of the vehicle gate for years and then gets told to use the pleb, sorry pedestrian gate then… he’s still a prat but I could empathise a little..

    I guess there’s a question there for a sleuth – what do the regulations say? If he just wanted ministerial treatment where everyone else gets told to go the pleb way AND the regs say she should go through the ped gate then he is indeed as stupid as he first looks.

    BTW I hope I wouldn’t reserve this kind of judgement just for Tories, but it is fun watching them get picked off for things ‘just like normal people’. As said above it’s good to see MPs on bikes, maybe they are part human after all? Lets hope so, for all our sakes.

    September 25, 2012 at 7:05 am #702005
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    Stumps

    Edit – apologies you didnt
    Edit – apologies you didnt say “entitled to get annoyed” my mistake but you did say he was quite right to get annoyed, which i still disagree with. 😀

    September 25, 2012 at 7:03 am #702003
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    Stumps

    Edgeley: how were the Police
    Edgeley: how were the Police being lazy, they have protocols to follow and will do regardless of who comes to the gates.

    There is a perfectly suitable gate at the side which people with bikes use on a regular basis and the fact he was on a bike and not a motorbike has nothing to do with it.

    And to say he was perfectly entitled to get annoyed is nonsense. Why would anyone get annoyed over being told “sorry you will have to use the side gate” which is about 6 foot away. He was simply trying to use his position in govt to get them to change their mind and when they didnt he became abusive.

    I agree you have a point about more cons than others cycling and it would be great if even more cycled but that has nothing to do with the post.

    September 25, 2012 at 6:53 am #702001
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    Edgeley

    Stumpy, if he had been riding
    Stumpy, if he had been riding a motorbike and not a bicycle the police would have opened the gates. He was quite right to be annoyed, although extremely stupid to be annoyed in the way he acted. The police were being a) lazy, b) discriminatory against cyclists and c)wrong.

    Don’t we all hate “cyclist dismount” signs?

    I don’t like his politics either, but it is noticeable that appear to be more bicycling Tory and Lib Dem MPs than Labour ones.

    September 25, 2012 at 6:36 am #701999
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    Stumps

    If you look at the gates to
    If you look at the gates to Downing Street there are the main big gates and outside of them are another set of barriers, both of which have to be opened to allow traffic through whereas the side gate is simply a side gate.

    The problem is he didnt want to get off his bike and walk through the side gate and automatically expected to have both sets of main gates opened.

    The man is a buffoon (i wont use swear words even though he fits the bill to use them) and he has no place in any govt position with the attitude he has. He should be reported for sect 5 poa for using foul and abusive language in a public place and forced to resign.

    However he is one of the bum chum friends of cameron and osborne so he is safe. X( X(

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