Another arrogant MP.

'A man's manners are a mirror, in which he shows his portrait'. Goethe

I may be a pleb but Andrew Mitchell has shown himself to be no true gentleman, or in other words an a***hole

greatnan OK

Some quite interesting stories here...
www.guardian.co.uk/politics/shortcuts/2012/sep/25/andrew-mitchell-wasp-killer-thrasher

glitabo, yes. You are right. It is how he handled the situation, and I guess he didn't do too well. But then, we are all human.

Greatnan. Sigh.

nightowl ...well said!

Thank you soop. Your photos are lovely by the way, what a lovely family you have!

nightowl Yes, the family is lovely. We were especially pleased that our adult grandchildren made the effort to travel some distance to see us. What's more, they enjoyed themselves.

The point for me is that it shows a deep rooted class divide which is hard for those at the top to shake off. I find it hard to believe a policeman would have take the word 'pleb' from his everyday language store! It shows the Tories still see themselves as top dogs and the rest of us as inferior. That is a real problem as social division worsens through economic policy. It is part of a social system which sees inherited wealth and position as more important and self perpetuating. Don't forget there are 18 millionaires in the Tory government.

Of course Syria is important - the Middle East presents a real threat to world peace, but social cohesion is an issue here too.

The indication of assumed social superiority wasn't simply the use of the word pleb, if it was used, but also a remark about "knowing your f*****g place".

borstalgran Is that 18 millionaire Tories in the Government or 18 millionaires in the Coalition Government? (Nick Clegg is a millionaire but not a Tory.) I just wondered…

Yes, that "know your place" attitude is a real giveaway. No-one except someone with a superiority complex talks like that nowadays.

On the Today programme this morning, Jack Straw said "cripes".

That was just bye the bye.

Whatever by/e the by/e means.

Crikey!

He's very old school. A bit odd. But I like him.

He was talking about his depression.

I used to like Jack Straw when he was a firebrand student, but he came out of the Hillsborough enquiry in 1997 badly , I think.

Interesting new developments.