The Andrew Mitchell pleb row may result in him skipping the Conservative Party conference in October as there are Conservative apprehensions that the unsightly pleb row, in which Mitchell is entangled, may overshadow the Conservative annual congress in Birmingham that will exist through five days.
The Mitchell pleb wrangle revolves around whether the Tory Chief Whip uttered the phrase ‘f****** plebs’ while in an argument with Downing Street police last Wednesday when the police voiced to Mitchell that he couldn’t ride his bike via the main Downing Street gates.
Andrew Mitchell’s friends have, for now, claimed that he intends to participate in the autumn Conservative conference and that too through the full five days. But one friend of his has remarked to the news media that Mitchell is unlikely to deliver a public speech during the conference as he doesn’t have a particular policy area due to his being the Chief Whip.
Mitchell’s possible existence at the conference could be a headache for the Conservative strategists as they are attempting to move the party away from the hideous pleb quarrel, which has portrayed the Conservative Party as a political force not in sync with modern Britain. A similar statement has been uttered by the Shadow Cabinet Office minister, Gareth Thomas MP, who has also voiced that Mitchell’s attendance at the conference would remind some Conservatives that they should have ‘modernised’ the party mentality when they were an oppositional force from 1997-2010.
Broadcasters are certain to deploy cameramen to pursue Mitchell around meetings and conference halls in case he emerges at the conference in October. The pleb row will advance uninterruptedly as long as Mitchell doesn’t clarify unambiguously whether he employed the word ‘pleb’ in his quarrel with the policeman.
Meanwhile, at the Lib Dem Conference in Brighton, a badge emblazoned with the phrase, ‘I’m a PLEB!’ has been seen extensively, with many Lib Dem functionaries sporting the badge proudly. Vince Cable, the Lib Dem Business Secretary, has also proclaimed with pride that he was a ‘pleb.’
‘Pleb’ has a disparaging connotation in the UK, meaning a ‘dimwit and lowbrow commoner.’
Related:
Andrew Mitchell’s apology over police row doesn’t end ‘plebs’ controversy
David Cameron reshuffles cabinet, Andrew Mitchell is chief whip
David Cameron fights back critics, reveals plans to revive economy
Add One