An alleged conspiracy involving a serving Diplomatic Protection Officer to unseat a cabinet minister has been described as ‘exceptionally serious’ as the incident trends on twitter under the #plebgate hashtag.
Chief whip Andrew Mitchell was forced to resign after an apparent member of the public came forward to corroborate claims by two serving police officers that Mitchell swore at them and called them ‘plebs’ when attempting to cycle through a gate at Downing Street.
The weight of this evidence forced Mitchell to resign shortly thereafter but it has now emerged that the corroborating witness was in fact a serving police officer - and wasn’t even at Downing Street during the incident.
Tweeters views on the affair ranged from confused to hostile with @Elbie25 asking: “V confused by #plebgate. If Mitchell didn't say what he was accused of why not defend himself stronger rather than blundering like an idiot?”
George Cazenove, @KingofSW6, added: "I said at the time #plebgate was trivial. Well, it isn't now. Police conspiracy - and that's what it is - is all too serious. "
A No 10 spokesman said of the latest claims: "Any allegations that a serving police officer posed as a member of the public and fabricated evidence against a cabinet minister are exceptionally serious.
"It is therefore essential that the police get to the bottom of this as a matter of urgency."