Police union leaders have been slammed for employing Coventry radio host Jon Gaunt to lead a politically-motivated campaign against Birmingham MP Andrew Mitchell.
A powerful Commons committee said Mr Gaunt had “cynically” tried to exploit allegations, which Mr Mitchell denies, that he called Downing Street police officers “plebs”.
And MPs said the Police Federation’s decision to pay PR firm Gaunt Brothers Ltd £15,000 a month had backfired, because “the consequence was a lowering of the reputation for the police”.
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The findings were published by the Commons Home Affairs Committee, including Midland MPs David Winnick (Lab Walsall North) and Ian Austin (Lab Dudley North).
Mr Gaunt gave evidence to the inquiry earlier this month setting out his role in helping the Police Federation keep the incident on the news, saying: “We ran a very successful campaign. We kept it on the front pages of the newspapers for four weeks.”
Last night he said he had done nothing wrong - and attacked MPs for trying to silence the Police Federation.
Mr Mitchell, MP for Sutton Coldfield in Birmingham, was forced to resign from his Government job as Chief Whip in the Cabinet following newspaper reports in 2012 that he abused police officers guarding the gates to Downing Street.
The Police Federation used the incident to publicise its campaign against cuts in the police service, with a poster campaign outside the Conservative Party Conference, held in Birmingham that year, while Federation officials wore t-shirts with the slogan “PC Pleb and Proud”.
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But evidence later emerged casting doubt on the story while one officer, PC Keith Wallis, was sentenced to 12 months imprisonment after pleading guilty to a charge of misconduct in public office after falsely claiming that he witnessed the incident.
Mr Gaunt had no involvement with Mr Wallis but did advise the Police Federation on its campaign.
The Home Affairs Committee said the decision to employ Gaunt Brothers was an example of the Federation “failing to act in the best interests of both its members and the general public.”
MPs said: “Mr Gaunt explained that this campaign included the placing of unattributable stories in the media on behalf of local Federations, and admitted quite freely that he saw the ‘Plebgate’ affair as an ‘absolutely fantastic’ opportunity which the Federation could exploit to promote its political (‘with a small P’) agenda.
“Mr Gaunt cynically sought to exploit the “Plebgate” incident - over which, so far, one officer has been sent to jail and three others have been dismissed - as part of a manipulative media strategy which included what he described as ‘blitzkrieg’ and ‘guerrilla’ tactics.
“Three of the officers whom Mr Gaunt advised are now under investigation by the Independent Police Complaints Commission as a result of their actions.
“This entire episode does the Federation no credit at all.
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“It must think much more carefully in the future about the nature of its public campaigning and its public relations advice. We do not think that this contract was appropriate, and do not think the work of the Gaunt Brothers helped the police. Indeed, the consequence was a lowering of the reputation for the police.”
Mr Gaunt, who has worked for radio stations including BBC WM and BBC Coventry & Warwickshire, said he had done nothing wrong.
He said: “I don’t think it’s the job of politicians to advise the police or any individual in this country how they do their political campaigns. That’s a rather scary thought and I think it will have a chilling effect on freedom of speech.
“Police officers have exactly the same rights to freedom of speech as any other individual. They aren’t allowed to strike but they are allowed to campaign.”
He added: “This is clearly a case of the political establishment trying to silence the Police Federation, who have bene troublesome to both major parties in the past, and I think it’s pretty scary.”
And he insisted: “I stand by everything that we did in terms of what we did in the Birmingham area. It was a great campaign.”