Star comment: Mitchell row must be ended

While it is sensible that police and politicians are to get to the bottom of the sorry, sordid Plebgate affair, it is also remarkable that the scandal rumbles on.

Lest it be forgotten, the Plebgate scandal started on September 19, 2012 and shows no sign of slowing down.

It has cost one seemingly innocent man his job and reputation and shattered trust in both politicians and the police.

When Andrew Mitchell swore at police officers, one of the few 'facts' upon which police and politicians have agreed, little could he have imagined what lay in store.

Later, he secretly recorded a meeting with police; only to watch in horror later as the officers described a different version of events to the media.

Mitchell apologised for swearing but denied using the word pleb.

His secret recording backed that up.

The police, however, gave a different story.

The fact that so many senior officers have been implicated in the scandal is deeply troubling.

The level of mistrust in politicians and the police runs deep.

At the heart of the affair are two simple questions: Did Andrew Mitchell use the word pleb? If he did not, why did the police say he did?

It is utterly remarkable that those questions, which ought to have been truthfully answered more than a year ago, are still outstanding.

When the independent review gets its teeth into what was – and what was not – said, it ought to also calculate the exorbitant costs involved.

The suggestion that the police were out to get Mitchell and did all that they could to undermine him persists.

And the suspicion created is that if they can do that to politicians, what else could they do?

The matter needs resolving quickly to restore trust in our police.

• See also: West Mercia Police chief considered quitting over Plebgate

• Sorry is the hardest word during Plebgate saga