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Eleven months after new evidence cast doubt on claims that Andrew Mitchell called a group of police officers ‘plebs’, the public remains sceptical
Senior police chiefs are facing fresh criticism over their handling of the ‘plebgate’ incident, which took place outside the gates to Downing Street in September 2012. Home Secretary recently called an Independent Police Complaints Commission report on police conduct relating to the incident ‘troubling reading’.
Surveys for the Sunday Times, conducted by YouGov, have tracked public perceptions of the incident since cracks began to show in the police officers’ version of events in December. The surveys show a public still divided over whether to trust the police officers' account or Mr Mitchell’s, with little change from eleven months ago.
40% now think Andrew Mitchell, who lost his job as Government Chief Whip over the incident, ‘probably did call the police officer a pleb’, roughly the same proportion of the public what thought so last December (43%). 38% think he probably did not use the word 'pleb', and the remaining 22% don't know.
There has been a moderate increase in the number who believe Mitchell is ‘telling the truth’, from 31% eleven months ago to 37% now.
Mr Mitchell has apologised for being disrespectful to the police officers but denies having used the word ‘pleb’.
One reason why Mr Mitchell may find it difficult to bring the public around to his version events is that police officers remain significantly more trusted than politicians.
The latest criticism comes as a blow to the police, whose version of events was first called into question in December, when CCTV footage emerged showing a scene different than the one described in the police log of the incident. It was also revealed that a letter corroborating the police log – purportedly written by a member of the public – was actually written by a police officer.