London Metropolitan Police have promised to lead a thorough investigation after Andrew Mitchell was blown up by an "Improvised Explosive Device" as he cycled out of the main gates of Parliament yesterday.
The blast, which occurred just inside the gated area of Downing Street, occurred as Mr Mitchell left late last night on his pushbike and was passing the standard Police Checkpoint on his way out via the main gates - which were recently opened for use instead of the side entrance following a bitter overruling of the Police directly from the Prime Minister himself.
Chief Commissioner Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe promised to leave "no stone unturned" in the investigation of how what was described by witnesses as "half a kilo of military grade C4 explosive next to a Police Radio with a wire running between them" could have remained unnoticed, but expressed doubt even at this early stage that there could be any possibility of Police corruption involved.
"We are not, I repeat not, a corrupt, unfair, bullying or cynical Police force" Sir Bernard declared at a press conference today, "it's quite clear even from the outset that this has got to have some kind of terrorist connection and we will be contacting our colleagues in MI6 to see if they have noticed any recent suspicious activity". He defended any suggestion that revenge may have been a motive following tension between the Force and the Conservatives by pointing out that, largely speaking, the Police hadn't needlessly kicked the shit out of anyone since Ian Tomlinson got in the way of the demonstration in London and got 'a bit of a battoning.'
The Prime Minister was also today not being drawn on the idea of Police brutality being involved in any way. "It's sad, its unfortunate and I feel for Andrews family." he was quoted as saying toda., " Of course, the immediate finger of suspicion will fall on the Police but I would hesitate that anyone who should jump to any conclusions. Yes, we just cut their front line defence budget by another 15% this morning though it wont affect front line defences. But please, we would ask people to remember that when the Police do kill or main members of the public, those people are normally found to be either poor or unemployed or both, so really you have to ask yourself whether they didn't have it coming anyway."
