The Spectator’s notes | 11 July 2013

Andrew Mitchell was forced to resign as the Tory Chief Whip last autumn because he called policemen at the Downing Street gates ‘plebs’. Then it turned out, as this column suggested at the time, that he had not done so. It emerged that there was a conspiracy — quite how deep has not yet been made public — by police and accomplices to attribute to Mr Mitchell words which he did not speak. People pretending to be by-standing members of the public said how shocked they were by Mr Mitchell’s remarks, and then it turned out that no bystanders had been within earshot of whatever it was that Mr Mitchell had said. Eventually, there was an investigation. Last week, two more people were arrested, bringing the total to eight (five police officers and three members of the public). The investigation will produce disciplinary action within the police and probably criminal charges as well, but it is ludicrously slow. No one now denies Mr Mitchell’s innocence of all the accusations, but he remains in political limbo. Surely David Cameron should put him back in the cabinet in his next reshuffle, possibly in the International Development job which he loved so much. Not only would his reinstatement be personally deserved: it would also demonstrate that false accusations cannot destroy careers, and will therefore make future ones less likely.

It is well known that there are lots of idiotic and expensive Green measures, such as the subsidies for wind farms. What is less considered are measures which work unnecessarily against the environment. A classic one is the fact that it costs more to eat inside a café than to take the food away in cartons. This is because of differential VAT rates. As a result, one often sees people buying food and drinks at takeaway prices, taking the plastic and cardboard cups, plates and cutlery, and then sitting down to eat in the sandwich bar all the same, unmolested by the staff, who have no financial interest in stopping them.