Lies, damned lies and videotape.

There has been some furore over the last 24 hours in regard to whether or not the police evidence about whether Andrew Mitchell was witnessed calling a police officer a pleb. Which if the video evidence is to be believed, there was no witness as claimed by the police and it has become one man's word against another.
I didn't see the Channel 4 program as I was busy elsewhere indulging in my love of Tolkien at a showing of The Hobbit, but I've read and viewed some stills of the so called incident and the evidence as presented by the police including an email of a member of the public whom it turned out was a serving police officer who was supposed to be a witness and it now appears to be highly suspect and that Mitchell was set up by the police to take a heavy fall by lies. I'm not saying he didn't call the officer concerned a pleb, but it now appears if he did do it then only the officer concerned heard him...
It's not the first time that someone has fallen foul of trial by media and that the initial evidence and perceptions have been false, the problem being that some elements in society were all too prepared to believe it of the Tory Party (yes unions and leftists we're looking at you) and we really should have known better as the police have put themselves into various positions over the last few years in which what they consider to be evidence often isn't. It does seem odd that the person tasked by the government appears to have missed the email thing or rather not checked it correctly, but we're talking politicians here and at the time it did appear an open and shut case. Though I suspect if Mitchell is ever reinstated as chief whip some politicians are going to seriously regret it (Shades of Francis Urquhart anyone?) The man may be forgiving over being thrown to the wolves, but I personally wouldn't.
As it is, the reputation (already low) of the police has just taken another blow and the politicisation of the forces during the Labour years and the infiltration by Common Purpose now needs to be removed root and branch.
Otherwise they'll just go away, lick their wounds and try again...