A bad day for the Nats

The spat over an obscure National backbencher has caused serious damage to the reputation of Prime Minister Bill English. It has also raised disturbing questions about the political independence of the police. Finally, it has dealt a fatal blow to the credibility of Clutha-Southland MP Todd Barclay.

English has for a long time claimed to know little about Barclay’s row with three electorate staff who resigned early last year. The investigation by Newsroom strongly suggested this was wrong, saying that English knew Barclay had secretly recorded his electorate agent Glenys Dickson. This is an offence under the Crimes Act.

English first told journalists yesterday that he could not remember who told him about the secret recording and that it was ‘‘still unclear what, if anything, happened’’. He also said that an MP recording a staff member wouldn’t be ‘‘acceptable behaviour’’ but that he still had full confidence in Barclay.

But a little later in the day English changed his story and said Barclay himself had told him he made the secret recording. This flatly contradicted Barclay’s claim that the recording did not exist. By saying this, English has destroyed the credibility of the young MP.

Barclay has long been evasive about the whole issue. He told electorate chairman Stuart Davie he ‘‘did not tap Dickson’s phone’’. This was misleading: he had left a dictaphone running in her office while he was absent. It amounted to much the same thing.

Even this week he was still insisting he had not done anything wrong, while avoiding answering specific questions about the dictaphone. A politician whose evasions have been so comprehensively exploded has no alternative but to resign, despite his refusal last night to do so.

But English has also cast great doubt on his own credibility. His claim that he couldn’t recall who told him about the secret recording was unconvincing when he made it. To change his tune so quickly afterwards after supposedly checking a statement he had made to the police was simply absurd. A leaked police report showed English sent a message to Davie on February 21 last year, saying Barclay had left a dictaphone running in the office and that a settlement with Dickson was larger than normal because of the privacy breach.

This strongly suggests English was aware that the secret taping was illegal, despite his later vagueness about whether anything had happened at all.

There are now also serious issues concerning the police handling of the scandal. Police said yesterday they issued a redacted file after consulting the people who had made statements. This seems to mean they left English’s damning message out of the file because of ‘‘the privacy interests in the case.’’ It is not the job of the police to prevent personal embarrassment to powerful politicians.

Other troubling questions arise. Alleged attempts by senior National Party people to silence Dickson, if true, are a disgrace. John Key’s use of his leader’s parliamentary budget to provide hush money for Dickson is highly questionable.

This is a squalid shambles.

Todd Barclay has damaged himself and his leader.