Darren Hughes

I thought Shearer’s comments were a bit rich.

Labour leader David Shearer said John Key failed to show leadership by not calling Gilmore to get an explanation.

“The prime minister has just left it alone. He’ll pick up the phone to talk to somebody to get him a job in GCSB but he won’t pick up the phone to actually talk to his own MP. I find that extraordinary,” Shearer said, referring to Key’s call to old family friend Ian Fletcher over the top job at the Government Communications Security Bureau.  Read more »

Who should buy Truth this week:

Brendan Horan, Trevor Mallard, Darren Hughes, Len Brown, Rajen Prasad, Gareth Hughes, David Cunliffe, David Shearer and Jacinda Ardern should all buy Truth this week.

Plus a musical interlude for you:

12 months ago, we ran a poll on the question of Darren Hughes and his likely comeback into politics.  With 20/20 hindsight, most of the readers were right:

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These days he’s the Director of Campaigns & Research for Electoral Reform Society in London.  Wonder if he’s got a Swiss Ball by now?

I see David Shearer has invoked the Phil Goff approach to Leadership coups.

You may recall when Phil was in the crap after covering up the Darren Hughes affair, he announced to the world that all the Leadership speculation had made him stronger.

Now David Shearer’s followed in his footsteps

Silly woman.

Tick tock, still waiting for the results of the OIA on the Police reports of the former Boarder.

Never look a gift duck in the beak without giving it a smack.

If it is not bad enough that the Erin Leigh case keeps coming back with Darren Hughes’ OIA’s pending that will embarrass most of Labour’s former front bench, Trevor Mallard is now attempting snide jokes with the TV3 reporter who reported his ticket scalping.

The last joke is on Trevor really.  Has he got any friends left to pretend to take?  None in the Labour Party that’s for sure as he just will not get the SMOG hint from his colleagues who changed his password on Red Alert.

Another redux of the incident attached.

The Labour double standard on police inquiries continues.

Police found insufficient evidence to prosecute John Banks.

Police found insufficient evidence to prosecute Darren Hughes.

Darren’s defence was mounted by Trevor Mallard:

“I’m confident that the police have done a thorough investigation,” says Mr Mallard, “they have made that judgement, and I’m not going to second-guess the police.”

And

“It now appears that police have investigated those claims thoroughly and ruled out any action”

“He (Darren Hughes) wanted to commit himself completely to clearing his name, he’s now done that.”

“It’s important to put justice above politics”

So according to Labour ‘insufficient’ evidence is ‘completely clearing’ your name, but only if you’re a Labour MP.

What does this actually mean for poor old Darren?

Labour’s futile pursuit of John Banks is starkly contrasted with the response to the allegations against Darren Hughes.

Labour agrees with police decisions – when it suits them.

Darren Hughes was investigated by police who said there was insufficient evidence to prosecute – just like John Banks.

Trevor Mallard said Darren Hughes had ‘cleared’ his name, while Phil Goff said at the time he believed Hughes had integrity:

 “But the decision about the complaint and the substance of the complaint is not mine to make. I don’t know all the facts, it’s for the police.”

and; 

“I didn’t think the complaint was relevant to him being able to carry out his job”.

Nevermind, Labour has made their bed, and they can lie in it now.

It is refreshing to see a whole lot more transparency from the Police regarding release of information pertaining to Police investigations.

Yesterday they released the Banks files, after multiple OIA requests, one from former Labour party General Secretary Mike Smith who now blogs at The Standard, Lynn Prentice’s Hate Blog.

That said I wonder if the Police will be as forth-coming releasing the Darren Hughes investigation files should an OIA request be made now.

I guess we will have to find out won’t we. I’ll bet money that David Fisher won’t bother, he is busy still fellating Kim Dot Con.

Annette and Phil can thank Trevor for that.

Oh dear of dear. Chris Hipkins really is a failure when it comes to political history.

Poor old Chippy tweets today:

Word around Parlt is that McCully is off to the UN towards the end of the parliamentary term. #cronywatch

— Chris Hipkins (@chrishipkins) July 19, 2012

Clearly he forgot his former leader…and past task master slipped off at the ignominious end of her political career to the United Nations…where she has just been sprung in an act of crass hypocrisy. Cactus Kate reminded the hapless Chippy of the facts:

@chrishipkins and where is ur oldest former leader? Yet another #hipkinsstandard #cronywatch

— Cactus Kate (@CactusKate2) July 19, 2012

Perhaps Chris Hipkins learned the “The Hipkins Standard” from the lap of Helen Clark? Should it perhaps be renamed the Clark Doctrine?

Of course National supported Helen Clark’s case to the UN which Mr Hipkins seems to forget and she’s hardly a crony…

And after all… if she wasn’t there Darren Hughes would have had no one to hide out with when he left Annette’s place eh?