Glass houses and stones

One lesson that politicians never seem to learn is that when they find themselves in a hole, they should stop digging. Somewhat unusually, John Key, leader of the opposition National Party, has found himself in that situation.

Key was a critic of the use of politicians' families to score hits during debates in Parliament. Personal attacks and smears have no place in political discourse, he declared.

That was then, this is now.

Key's found himself in the firing line over his use of MPs' families as well as a not-too-subtle attempt to remind people that Prime Minister Helen Clark has no children. On this morning's Breakfast programme on TVNZ, Key was given the opportunity to acknowledge that he had done the same sort of thing he criticised. Of course he didn't do that.

Interviewer Paul Henry pointed out at least twice that Key was avoiding a direct question, but he nevertheless failed to admit he was now no better than anyone else. Henry is no friend of Labour, having openly expressed his contempt for the Government, but he's an even stronger opponent of hypocrisy, in all its forms.

For their part, Key and National are downplaying the matter, saying you have to have a sense of perspective. No, you don't: If that sort of behaviour is wrong, it's always wrong, not okay because it's not as bad as the behaviour of others. This is a breathtaking display of moral relativism from the party supposedly based on conservative values.

Make no mistake: I absolutely agree that no politician should be engaging in personal attacks, and that MPs' families should never be used just to score political points. On the Labour side, I often find myself wishing that the Caucus would put duct tape over the mouth of Trevor Mallard (maybe with a tight-fitting ice hockey goalie's mask, too). He's been one of the worst offenders of “attack dog” politics.

But that doesn't excuse Key's behaviour. He was wrong. If he wants to claim any sort of “moral highground” on this, he'll have to stop doing it, first, and apologise for having descended to that level.

In the meantime, he should stop digging. And he can no longer throw stones, either.