Bill English’s secret weapon – The People’s Front of Judea

People have claimed Bill English didn’t turn up at Waitangi and won’t run a candidate in Mt Albert because the National Party are scared.

I’d suggest that’s wishful thinking.

So far, Bill English’s secret weapon, the People’s Front of Judea, has been able to cause more political damage than Malcolm Turnbull calling Trump collect.

By stepping aside from Waitangi and Mt Albert, English has managed to give his Opposition all the limelight so voters can study the deep cracks and divisions barely holding together the facade of unity.

This fiasco today at Waitangi Day Celebrations has been terribly damaging to Labour. To rob Andrew Little of his media moment to welcome Willie Jackson and the huge urban Maori voting bloc he represents into Labour by attacking Jackson’s candidacy is fascinating political self mutilation.

Little is weakened by the blindsiding, the media coverage has gone from positive to negative and Labour suddenly look divided.

It’s almost as if those criticising Jackson have no idea that he runs the Manukau Urban Maori Authority or is part of the National Urban Maori Authority and has been instrumental in bringing welfare programmes that support and help the poorest Maori in Auckland.

From Prisons, to welfare, to domestic violence, to education – MUMA and NUMA do an enormous amount of good in the community, yet Jackson’s work is to be ignored, his apologies supposedly hollow and his history of political activism is meaningless because he hasn’t apologised in the right way for a 3 year old interview he acknowledges wasn’t his best work and has apologised half a dozen times now.

Taking offence on social media is the most competitive sport in the world and I wonder at how counter productive this is to changing the Government. Voters will start the election year thinking Labour are more interested in arguing with itself and the Greens than beating National and we have to get through the next 4 weeks of the Mt Albert by-election with the possibility of a TOP upset to get through yet.

Bill English might just sit out the next 7 months and allow the Left to do what it can’t help itself from doing, and that is tear itself to pieces.