Richard Prebble
Columnist, former cabinet minister and ACT Party leader.
The Labour Party has issued no law-and-order policies. There are several possible explanations.
Chris Hipkins says Labour is focused on the cost of living. Yeah, right. Maybe Labour thinks the coalition’s policies are perfect. Do not think so.
More likely, Labour has plenty of ideas for law and order, but not ideas it wants to share.
I served on Labour’s policy committee. The only other time I recall Labour not issuing a manifesto policy was when the policy committee was hopelessly split.
My guess is that any law-and-order policy the committee can agree on is a policy that Labour’s polling says voters hate.
I was also once Labour’s justice spokesman. In government, I was Labour’s minister of police.
I speak from experience when I say I think Labour MPs will have had many passionate arguments before the decision was made to issue no law-and-order policy.
In opposition, a group of Labour MPs had me sacked as justice spokesman. I had criticised the courts for handing down soft sentences. In government, when polling said the public thought Labour was soft on crime, the same MPs insisted I be appointed minister of police.
It is inconceivable that Labour does not have policies on crime, sentencing, prisons, drugs and gangs. What is conceivable is that Labour has policies it does not want you to know about until it is in government.
This article was originally published by I’ve Been Thinking.
