For the past nine years, National has hammered Labour on law and order issues, exploiting every crime, every verdict, every parole decision and every prison escape to blame the then-government for the fact that crime happens. But now they're in government, the shoe is on the other foot (or should that be in the other hand?), and Labour has lost no time in serving them up a dish of their own fetid swill. Unfortunately the new Minister's response has been less than stellar:
But there has been no such response from the higher echelons, with Police and Corrections Minister Judith Collins refusing to answer Herald questions despite the National Party previously demanding accountability from Labour ministers over such failures.Funny how she's suddenly not so keen on accountability now she's the one carrying the can. But as much as I love to see politicians hoist by their own petards and forced to eat their own rhetoric, this sort of petty blame-game on law and order is a chief driver of the "auction", the incessant push for tougher and tougher (and more expensive) policies which undermine human rights while not doing anything to solve the underlying problem. And that's a madness Labour should be ending, not perpetuating."She generally doesn't comment on operational matters such as this," said a spokesman.
