Was there a conspiracy? What was its scope? When did it start?

It seems to me that a comprehensive look at the possibility of whether there might have been a conspiracy to stitch up Andrew Mitchell MP must look at several possibilities.

I'll list those possibilities briefly here:

1. There was no conspiracy of any type.
2. That there was a conspiracy to "manufacture" or provoke an incident in Downing Street on 19th September 2012
3. That there was a conspiracy to take a spontaneous incident in Downing Street and disseminate accounts of it in such a way as to provoke Mr. Mitchell's sacking or resignation.
4. Officers of the Professional Standards Department of the Metropolitan Police and/or more senior officers act to conceal the true account of events on and/or after 19th September 2012

If we look at the possibilities in another way we can get some additional insight into the possibilities that might exist:

1. There was no conspiracy of any type
2. The Diplomatic Protection Group officers in Downing Street, for a variety of reasons, decide to "have a bit of fun" with Andrew Mitchell on 19th September 2012 by barring him from exiting the vehicle gates
3. The Diplomatic Protection Group officers in Downing Street plus one or more officials of the Metropolitan Police Federation, for a variety of reasons, decide to provoke an incident with Andrew Mitchell on 19th September 2012 by barring him from exiting the vehicle gates with a view to destabilising Mr. Mitchell and thus harming the Government
4. After either a spontaneous incident or an "innocent bit of fun" by Diplomatic Protection Group officers, officials of the Metropolitan Police Federation and/or other Police Federations (including the West Midlands Police Federation) decide to exploit an "innocent incident" for political purposes i.e. to attack the Government using Andrew Mitchell MP as a proxy
5. On 12th October 2012 officials of the Warwickshire, West Mercia and West Midlands Police Federations "set up" Andrew Mitchell MP in relation to the meeting held at Sutton Coldfield on that date.
6. Officers of the Professional Standards Department of the Metropolitan Police and/or more senior officers act to conceal the true account of events on and/or after 19th September 2012

It seems to me that the preceding lists cover the possibilities that any comprehensive consideration of whether or not there was a conspiracy would need to consider.

To arrive at a view as to which of the options listed is the true one requires a comprehensive look at the relevant evidence.

Given the existence of the libel trial I don't propose to consider events on 19th September 2012 so you'll just have to wait a couple of weeks or so for my analysis of events on 19th September 2012.

I will however, in succeeding posts, begin to examine some of the evidence relating to events after 19th September 2012.

I believe I can do so since no event after 21st September can be part of the libel trial presently underway.