A rant about arrogance

A bit late to the party I know but have been watching very closely the 'news' that Tory chief whip Andrew Mitchell has proven himself to be, at the very least, arrogant, pompous and smug, and at worst a dishonest bully.

Now it has been made perfectly clear to everyone that whatever he did or didn't say - and his admissions on the subject have been sketchy - he isn't going to lose his job. Why would he? He's far too important to lose his job over something so silly. Dave has stood up for him - and we know what excellent character judgement he has don't we - and yet another self important politician gets away with treating one of the little people like scum, whether or not he used the word 'pleb'.

Not surprised. Dave's true personality shines through under pressure - his contempt for the population as a whole and other MPs, especially women, has been evident ever since his popularity started to dwindle.

But what kind of message are the Tories trying to send out? That's it's OK to abuse police officers? Can we all start doing it? Can we all wander along the street, swear at a police officer and expect everything to be OK because we say sorry? Saying sorry is supposed to mean something, but it is too easy for politicians to say sorry and think that everything will be OK. Look at Nick Clegg and his apology over tuition fees last week. Laughable. It's a shame, becauseI feel that in my lifetime apologising in itself has been devalued. Pretty much anyone in the public eye can do something, say sorry, and expect the world to just pretend nothing ever happened.

And of course, forgiving someone who is sorry is a great thing. But they have to be sorry. Not just say it. And I am fairly sure that when the door is closed and the cameras can't see him Andrew Mitchell is huffing and puffing and wondering how us plebs have got the nerve to be so indignant.

It is worrying that someone with so much political power can lose their temper over such a minor issue anyway. The policeman basically told him to use a side gate to leave Downing Street. And Mitchell lost his rag and threw a hissy fit (even he admits that). Wow. How spoilt can you be? Good job he's not in charge of the big red button isn't it?

We don't expect politicians to be nice people. We know that they hug babies for cameras but are pretty ruthless when it comes to their ambitions. But we need them to show a little respect. Respect for the police, yes, but respect for the people in general. The arrogance shown yet again this weekend by this so called government is embarassing. Politicians you are not higher beings, you are elected to represent normal people. The issue with this story is disrespect. For us and for the truth. And if the PM and his government can't see that they have no right to be doing the jobs we pay them to do.