Kiwiblog

Crime Stoppers was launched yesterday.

You can use it to report crime through their website or by calling 0800 555 111. They don’t record the call, want your name or details – just information on the crime and who is responsible.

The organisation is an independent charity, based on the UK one set up by Lord Ashcroft, who has also donated to the NZ one.

In the last year, the UK crime stoppers achieved:

• 91,649 arrests and charges from 1,060,047 actionable calls
• 106 million pounds of goods recovered
• 167 million pounds fo drugs seized
• One person every four days charged with murder as a result of information provided
• Contributes to solving of one in five murders in London

Now the UK has 15 times our population, but that still suggests it should prove a useful contributor to the fight against crime.

Colin Espiner also has some good insights:

I am going to criticise the Prime Minister for something else, however. Her decision yesterday to launch into the Serious Fraud Office and claim the agency tipped off the National Party about its pending inquiry into donations to the New Zealand First Party was extraordinary. I don’t think a prime minister in this country has made such an accusation against a law enforcement agency before. …

It’s difficult to see Clark’s outburst as anything other than a deliberate attempt to undermine the credibility of the agency investigating one of her ministers, whom she clearly wishes to be cleared of wrongdoing as soon as possible. She has gone out on a limb on this one. The attack looks desperate, unwarranted, and unfair.

As Colin says, one can’t even recall Muldoon at his worst attacking law enforcement like Clark has.

Asked whether any of his MPs had met Lord Ashcroft, Key said: “I think so, yes.”

Here’s what Key should have said to Duncan Garner’s first question: “Sure I met Lord Ashcroft. Why wouldn’t I? He’s close to a friend of mine, David Cameron, and I always take the opportunity to meet my counterparts from like-minded parties overseas, as does the Prime Minister.”

It’s this automatic first instinct to avoid an issue that has got National into trouble before. Why wasn’t Key’s meeting with Lord Ashcroft in his diary released to the media? Why not offer journalists the opportunity to talk to the pair? I’m sure he’s an interesting fellow. If the meeting had been released, I could almost guarantee the media would have ignored it.

I agree strongly here. I guess it is easier with hindsight, but the meeting should have been in the diary. It would have prevented any suspicion, by front footing it. Clin provided the perfect response to any questions.

Finally a word on the billboards. So far: Lame. National is missing John Ansell, the man behind the party’s wickedly clever 2005 billboards terribly. Apparently National isn’t Right-wing enough for Ansell these days, and he’s gone off to support ACT – so look out for some clever billboards from them.

Colin must have missed the news that John parted ways with ACT.

There does seem to be a consensus that the first National billboard isn’t particularly good. The most common complaints is it has too many design elements, and is not clearly a National billboard.

TV3 has got rather excited that John Key recently met with Michael, Lord Ashcroft (best known for $200,000 reward for the return fo the VCs). Lord Ashcroft is a Deputy Chairman of the UK Conservative Party and Treasurer of the International Democratic Union.

Now I hope there is nothing wrong with meeting Lord Ashcroft, as I’ve done so a dozen times. He’s a very funny, very smart guy.

TV3 are trying to link the meeting into being like Winston getting donations from Owen Glenn. However the law is very clear – Lord Ashcroft can not donate more than $1,000 to a NZ political party directly or indirectly. Incidentally Owen Glenn can still donate as much as he wants, because Labour specifically changed the Electoral Finance Bill to allow foreign expats such as Glenn to still give donations even though they have not lived her for 40 years.

On one point TV3 have a fair point. Key was evasive when asked if Ashcroft has met with anyone from National, saying “Yes, I think they have”. He did give a more helpful direct answer to the question whether he had personally met Ashcroft, replying “Yes I have. I met him at my home”. By not giving the direct answer to the initial question, John makes it look like there is something to hide, even though there isn’t.