Former cabinet minister Andrew Mitchell is to sue the Sun newspaper over a front page splash it ran claiming he swore and called police officers plebs.
Mitchell has instructed his lawyer, Graham Atkins, to issue a libel writ to address ‘the campaign of vilification by the Sun against him’.
The legal action follows subsequent developments which have cast doubt on the veracity of official police logs of the incident.
Three police officers have been arrested following the incident after CCTV footage cast doubt on the testimony of police officers account of their verbal exchange with the minister outside the gates of Parliament in September last year.
In a statement Atkins said: “I can confirm that I recently issued proceedings for libel against the owners of the Sun on behalf of Andrew Mitchell MP.
"There are a number of other potential actions being considered but I do not intend commenting any further at this stage."
Mitchell has continued to protest his innocence throughout despite resigning from his position as chief whip.