Cooper says 'pleb-gate' Mitchell must quit
Friday 12 October 2012
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EmailLabour front-bencher Yvette Cooper waded into the pleb-gate row today, saying that the time for apologies has passed and Tory minister Andrew Mitchell must go.
Mr Mitchell's future in the Cabinet was hanging by the thinnest of threads today as he met representatives of the Police Federation, but the shadow home secretary believes Parliament has already lost all respect for the Con-Dem government's chief whip.
"The failure by David Cameron and Andrew Mitchell to take this incident seriously enough and to sort it out straight away means Andrew Mitchell will clearly not be able to instil respect in Parliament or beyond as chief whip and this will just drag on and on," said Ms Cooper.
"And it is now clear no-one even in the Conservative Party has confidence in Andrew Mitchell either."
Ms Cooper's comments echo those made by Police Federation representatives, who said that Mr Cameron's failure to sack Mr Mitchell showed the Tories' "true attitude" towards the police.
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