Make no mistake; the Tories have had an absolutely torrid time of late.
And this run of misfortune looks set to continue as Parliament resumes after what has been an extremely difficult Summer recess and less than remarkable Party Conference.
The Tory Conference in Birmingham will undoubtedly been difficult for the Prime Minister. His speech to delegates was certainly not his most memorable and he was clearly overshadowed by London Mayor Boris Johnson. And coming straight after Ed Miliband's triumphant week, Cameron had a lot to live up to and failed to deliver.
The U-turn over the awarding of the West Coast Rail franchise to First Connect has made ministers - especially ex-transport Secretary Justine Greening - look foolish enough.
But the furore surrounding Chief Whip Andrew Mitchell and his foul-mouthed rant to a police officer at the gates of Downing Street in September is in a league of its own. Worse still, it shows no sign of dying down. Cabinet colleague Philip Hammond stressed this weekend that Mitchell has apologised to the officer concerned and therefore that should be the end of the matter.
However, Mr Mitchell's refusal to reveal what he actually said has made an embarrasing situation worse and ensured that this story will run for some considerable time yet. He has denied the allegations made by the police that he referred to them as 'plebs' but without fully spelling out his exact words, it is very difficult to believe he is telling the truth.
If he had nothing to hide, why did he feel it necessary to stay away from this year's Conservative Party conference in Birmingham? Mitchell may have felt that he could now be a distraction if he did attend, but the absence of the Tories' only Birmingham MP spoke volumes.
The consensus amongst political observers seems to be that Mitchell will not last in government much longer. Parliament resumes next week and according to Sky News, the writing is on the wall.http://news.sky.com/story/996441/andrew-mitchell-row-descends-into-farce. This is the Cabinet minister supposedly responsible for maintaining discipline within Party ranks, and yet he cannot behave himself. The growing calls for his resignation are getting louder by the day and yet he refuses to do the honourable thing.
More disturbing is David Cameron's inability to act decisively and sack Mr Mitchell. Not only was his behaviour unacceptable, it is actually a criminal offence to swear at a police officer. Had this incident involved an ordinary member of the public, they would undoubtedly been arrested. Since there is no doubt Mitchell did swear at the officer concerned, the Prime Minister should have dismissed him immediately. It yet again illustrates glaring indecisiveness on Cameron's part and this Tory-led government's total disdain for ordinary hard-working people.http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/janetdaley/100182540/andrew-mitchell-and-the-truth-about-nasty-tories/
We wait to see how long Andrew Mitchell lasts into next week.
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