Andrew Mitchell speaks to refugees from Somalia in north-east Kenya in 2011. Image via DFID—U.K. Department for International Development

Here’s something that happened in Britain a few months ago. Andrew Mitchell, a Member of Parliament and the recently appointed government Chief Whip, a man with a reputation for abrasiveness, rode his bicycle to a meeting at Number 10, Downing Street. Let’s stop right there for a moment and reflect on the unlikelihood of such an official’s choosing such a mode of transport on such an errand in the U.S. or, indeed, almost any other country in the world, outside Scandanavia. You might almost think it a sure-fire proposition that Mr. Mitchell was angling, like his fellow Conservative and fellow cyclist Boris Johnson, the mayor of London, to be known for his humility and approachability—a true Man of the People as well as a friend of the environment. But on leaving the meeting and approaching the Whitehall entrance to Downing Street, his access was delayed at the massive iron gate thereunto which has recently been erected for security reasons. A member of the Diplomatic Protection Group of the Metropolitan Police told him that he would have to dismount and wheel his bicycle through a side gate. He wasn’t happy about it.

According to the official police log, this simple bicyclist reacted by saying: “Best you learn your f***ing place. You don’t run this f***ing government. You’re f***ing plebs.” Then, as he departed on