Nick Clegg pushes for line be drawn under Andrew Mitchell police row

Nick Clegg attempted to come to the defence of the beleaguered Tory chief whip Andrew Mitchell as Labour piled the pressure on over his angry tirade at Downing Street police officers.

Shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper wrote to the Cabinet Secretary Sir Jeremy Heywood asking him to release, in full, the accounts of what was said during the outburst. She insisted that David Cameron could not "dismiss" what had happened after Mr Mitchell appeared to admit swearing when officers refused to let him cycle out of Downing Street's main gates.

But asked about in the incident on the BBC's Andrew Marr Show Mr Clegg suggested Mr Mitchell should be allowed to "draw a line" under the incident "unless something comes to light about the rival versions, about what was and what was not said that I don't know about".

In her letter to Sir Jeremy, Ms Cooper asked for Mr Mitchell and the officers involved to be interviewed, statements to be reviewed and an examination be made of CCTV footage.

When a member of Scotland Yard’s Diplomatic Protection Group refused to let him cycle out through the gates, Mr Mitchell said: “Look, I’m the Chief Whip, I work at No 9 [Downing Street],” before muttering: “You guys are supposed to f****** help us,” The Sunday Telegraph reported.