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English must be upfront about involvement in Barclay scandal

Andrew Little

Leader of the Opposition

MEDIA STATEMENT

26 June 2017

English must be upfront about his involvement in Barclay scandal

Bill English’s explanations that he was on the periphery of the long running employment dispute involving Todd Barclay don’t stack up, says Labour Leader Andrew Little.

“The Prime Minister claims to have been a bystander, but we know he was donkey deep in the dispute.

“We know Todd Barclay told him he had taped Glenys Dickson – his statement to the Police confirms that.

“We also know that he told her of the existence of the tape in February last year and that prompted her to resign the very next day.

“And we know that he had texted Clutha-Southland electorate chair Stuart Davie shortly after stating the ‘settlement was larger than normal because of the privacy breach’.

“How can Mr English then claim on Morning Report that; ‘there's a whole lot of the detail of this I simply don't know’.

“It doesn’t stack up. It’s just not credible. Just like his claims again that he doesn’t know if the tapes even exist despite Mr Barclay offering to play the tapes to him.

“Mr English was no bystander – he was at the very centre of this scandal and the public has a right to know exactly what he was up to.

“Right now the Prime Minister is simply not being straight with the New Zealand public. He’s lost his reputation.

“Mr English claims to have been ‘upfront’ – but every day we are hearing just more inconsistent statements. When will it end? What more will be revealed?

“It all amounts to a sad failure of leadership of a man whose reputation as a straight shooter from Southland has been severely damaged,” says Andrew Little.

ends

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