The relationship between the police and government has been strained in the past week. The police were unhappy about cuts to pensions, but the developments in the row over Andrew Mitchell, the chief whip who lost his job because of an altercation with police in Downing Street, have become very serious.

Former Labour home secretary David Blunkett told the Today programme that things "are not as bad as they seem" and that the latest in the Andrew Mitchell case was "a twist on an old story of trying to route out corruption". He added that the government's task was to ensure that police officers "are not politicised".

Sir Hugh Orde, president of the Association of Chief Police Officers, said that there should be a "healthy tension" between the government and the police. He told Today that if things were found wanting they would be dealt with "transparently and openly".

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