The Prime Minister, the police and a rookie MP have all emerged from the trenchcoat and trilby secret taping affair with dirt on their hands. Although that sort of garb in the deep south would be a little out of place, more like black singlet and gummies with a roll yer own, hanging from the corner of the mouth.
But there's nothing funny about the saga involving Bill English, his successor in the Clutha Southland seat, National's youngest MP Todd Barclay and the police. It's shabby showing a lack of leadership, deceit and possible subterfuge.
Bill English showed a lack of leadership when he allowed his most junior MP to refuse to cooperate with the police when he all along knew Barclay had secretly recorded staff in his Gore office bagging him. English was duty bound to tell Barclay to cooperate with the law given English knew that his MP could well have broken the law.
English was clearly having a bad hair day, forgetting quite a lot in the morning about who told him what on his way into caucus and then in the afternoon having a good recall of how things unfolded once he read his police statement.
The deceit comes from Barclay who has all along denied there was a recording, and threatened those who pursued the line with legal action. He was asked yesterday morning whether he'd told English he had recordings of his staff and he replied with a categorical no.
