I missed "Sunday" last night and its extra pile of wriggling maggots from Taito Phillip Field's rotting political corpse, but it seems to have been more than enough for the Prime Minister. She's now suggesting that Field should reconsider his future as an MP. I wonder if he'll take the hint? OTOH, given the complete lack of shame he's shown so far at his behaviour, it seems unlikely...
It does seem unlikely. No doubt he is too full of the "good" he does for his constituents to understand why people are having a go at him now.
ReplyDeleteNot knowing the constitution, what are Labour's options? Can the dismiss him from Labour, does he then remain as an independent (would National accept his votes if he chose to vote against the Government?). Or do we need to wait for evidence that will truely stack in court?
Labour can chuck him out, but (as the Electoral Integrity Act has expired) they can't chuck him out of Parliament (and nor should they be able to). So, if he refuses to go, and Labour disassociates itself from him, he'll hang around like a bad smell as an independent.
ReplyDeleteNational being national, I'm sure they'd welcome his proxy vote with open arms.
Labour has got to basically be softening him up for a retirement at the next election as he doesn't seem the type to stand-down gracefully mid-term.
ReplyDeleteLabour will surely want him to resign and seek to refresh his mandate via by-election (as an Independent if he couldn't get the Labour nomination) even less than it wants him to hang around until 2008 when it could hopefully give him the push less controversially.
If Labour were as evil as the right claims, he'd turn up on the shores of the Manakau with his hands and feet missing...
ReplyDeleteSeriously, can't Labour expel him as a member, ensuring that he can't be a candidate? Personally, I'd think that if an early election is forced bacuase they had to sack an asshole, labour would be in just as good a position now as in two years time.
Rich: sure, they can expel him and prevent him from being a Labour candidate - but they seem strangely reluctant to do this, even in a case of such obvious wrongdoing.
ReplyDeleteThe most distasteful element here is that it appears that Clark has had to be dragged, kicking-and-screaming to this announcement, by adverse public opinion and not by any inherent sense of moral probity. It turns out that "Sunday" can do do what her sense of ethics cannot.
ReplyDeleteM'lud
M'lud, I think you underestimate Clark here. She has made her displeasure very clear to those that notice these things. To have turfed PTF out the door on day one may have satisfied DPF and Idiot/Savant but I doubt the electors in Mangere would have appreciated this without some harder and faster evidence. The fact that Clark has followed something like "due process" as opposed to knee jerk dismissal, makes PTFs case much weaker. I think this is a good thing for those more interested in this case as opposed to seeing the demise of "Liarbour".
ReplyDeleteNoddy: I think a suspension pending an inquiry was a Good Thing; it's Clark's failure to act on the (pretty damning) findings of that inquiry (particularly in the face of Field's utter shamelessness) that has been problematic.
ReplyDeleteAnd naturally, given the severity of the allegations, I'd like to see a full police investigation. Unfortunately, they probably regard political corruption with about the same seriousness as they regard electoral offences - they'd rather do "real crime" like burglaries...
I/S: surely you mean "real crime" like speeding offences?
ReplyDeleteM'lud
Nah, real crime like Sedition.
ReplyDeleteOr possibly fraud...
ReplyDeleteM'Lud: in case you hadn't got the message, speed kills. I don't begrudge the police an instant of the time they spend on traffic safety - they're explicitly paid to do it in the budget, and it has resulted in a halving of the road toll over the last 15 years (that's about 250 lives). It is money and time well spent.
ReplyDelete(The ref to burglaries as "real crime" and contrast with electoral crime is actually from one of the officers investigating this case. They just didn't take the job seriously, and therefore didn't do it well. If they won't care, then moving investigations and prosecutions to someone who does might help...)