What if Mitchell is not lying?

Why does everyone assume Andrew Mitchell is guilty of calling the police f***ing plebs? Have we reached the point where Cabinet Ministers are automatically assumed to be liars?

Mr Mitchell should not resign as Chief Whip unless he is not telling the truth. But he has declared to the Prime Minister and the public that he did not say the words attributed to him.

Should we not believe him? He is an honourable man.

Petty bureaucrats dog us at every turn. It can be hard to keep your composure when some pathetic jobsworth is bossing you about – often just because he can.

Still, I have always assumed that if you swear at a policeman, you’ll be arrested no matter if you are a king or a clown, and serve you right.

If the police account of Andrew Mitchell’s rant is true, he should lose his job.

But what if it is untrue? What, then, are the police up to? Are they lying? And, if so, why? To undermine the Government?

One side is not telling the truth. It may be Mr Mitchell but equally it could be the police.

And if it is the police, we should be much more worried than we might be if it’s just a grumpy Minister after a long lunch.