Yvette Cooper, Shadow Home Secretary, responding to the statements from the IPCC on the West Mercia police investigation into a meeting between representatives of the Police Federation and Andrew Mitchell, said:

“This is a very serious statement by the IPCC. As the independent body charged with investigating police standards and misconduct, it is important for public confidence that their conclusions and recommendations on misconduct and standards are implemented.

"The integrity of the police and every police officer is extremely important. Anything that casts a doubt on this has serious implications for the faith the public have in the vital work that they do. It is in the interests of the public and the police to deal with issues of impropriety as speedily and effectively as possible.

"But today’s statements raise two serious wider issues.

"The CPS are now considering evidence from Operation Alice, the report by the Met Police into events in Downing Street last September. This raises much more serious questions about police actions in a democracy and it is vital that it gets to the truth. Andrew Mitchell has already had to wait too long for the conclusion of this investigation. There have been calls for independent investigation into the incident at Downing Street since day one. Today’s statement makes it even more important for the Met, the IPCC and the CPS to demonstrate that this investigation has been effective and reaches a speedy conclusion.

"Second, this raises wider concerns about the effectiveness of the system of standards and investigations. In this case the IPCC set up a supervised investigation, disagrees with its conclusions and is not now able to take further action. This reinforces the case for radical reform including a new Police Standards Authority with the powers and effectiveness it needs.”

Ends