![John Armstrong: English has good reason to be cautious](/pf/resources/images/placeholders/placeholder_l.png?d=791)
John Armstrong: English has good reason to be cautious
No matter the economic circumstances - whether rosy or not - finance ministers always exhibit caution, writes John Armstrong.
No matter the economic circumstances - whether rosy or not - finance ministers always exhibit caution, writes John Armstrong.
Some of his victims never saw it coming. Some succumbed because there was no point in putting up a fight. Some - like Peter Dunne - pleaded innocence.
Such were the worrying levels of goodwill to all men and women evident in Parliament yesterday that National's Anne Tolley felt obliged to remark upon it, writes John Armstrong.
There may be more than a grain of truth in Key's claim that Craig was "winding up" the media for ulterior motives. But therein lies potential trouble for Key.
One wrong step by Colin Craig, one embarrassing and potentially huge step backwards for his Conservative Party, writes John Armstrong.
Trial or no trial, John Banks was never going to stand again in his Epsom electorate at next year's general election, writes John Armstrong.
You can probably count the number of people who believe Peter Dunne did not leak the Kitteridge report on the fingers of one hand, writes John Armstrong.
A classic case of the disenchanted maverick making the fatal mistake of thinking he is bigger than the party, writes John Armstrong.
Must do better; can do better; will do better, writes John Armstrong. That mantra - or something very close to it - runs through Hekia Parata's report card on National's five-year tenure in the education portfolio.
With just a couple of days to go until the polling booths open in Christchurch East, one thing is for sure: apathy is the big winner so far, writes John Armstrong.
David Cunliffe has seized the moral high ground from the PM by offering to pay compensation to the Pike River families, John Armstrong says.
Is David Cunliffe exploiting the Pike River tragedy for political purposes? Of course he is, writes John Armstrong.
Bill English has thrown the Opposition a curve-ball as they ready themselves for their unofficial three-week campaign to maximise the "no" vote in the referendum on partial asset sales.
Phew, it looks like not being a scorcher! The Reserve Bank should be pleased even if the politicians will be very much in two minds about it.
Allies and enemies of David Cunliffe are quickly discovering that Labour's leader is something of a two-headed hydra, says John Armstrong.
The "conference" amounted to barely 30 party members and supporters squeezed into an upstairs room in a community centre, writes John Armstrong.
The song says you can't beat Wellington on a good day. Even a bad day too.
Well might the biblical warning about reaping what you sow haunt David Cunliffe as he delivers his first speech to a Labour Party conference as leader.
The latest political opinion polls pose a dilemma for David Cunliffe before this weekend's annual Labour Party conference, writes John Armstrong.
Has the political landscape really changed during the time shift from BC (Before Cunliffe) to AD (After David)?
Their respective tones may have differed markedly, but National and Labour basically gave Winston Peters the same message yesterday, writes John Armstrong.
If another favour from Len Brown to Bevan Chuang emerges from the woodwork then the Auckland Mayor has to go, John Armstrong writes.
When asked a detailed supplementary question, Key makes a habit of saying he does not know the answer and then adds "I know this much ...", writes John Armstrong.
Does Parata deserve to be pilloried after Phillipstown School's triumph in the courts? The answer is that such a judgment could catch any minister out, writes John Armstrong.
Cunliffe made a pitch for votes yesterday by arguing that even middle-income earners were now struggling to pay the weekly bills, writes John Armstrong.
Bill English has a message for you, writes John Armstrong. You don't need to worry too much. But you still need to worry about the economy.
There is, of course, already a healthy degree of consensus between central and local government in the form of National's Housing Accord with Auckland Council..