Labour has adopted yet another Alliance policy today, saying as part of its

social welfare policy it will look at setting up ‘community banks’, Finance

Minister Sir William Birch said today.

“Back in February Dr Cullen said Mr Anderton’s idea for a state bank was

silly.

“That was true then and it is now. But the Labour Party has adopted the

policy.

“That’s hardly surprising. Last year Dr Cullen was saying ‘you can’t go

into an election saying there are going to be large tax increases to any income

level”.

“But the Alliance stands for higher taxes and so Labour does too.

“Labour has fallen in behind the Alliance’s policies on extra government

spending, on giving unions more power, on paid parental leave and holidays, and

even on defence.

“No wonder Dr Cullen keeps losing his rag. He keeps having to swallow Jim

Anderton’s policies.?

Sir William said it was interesting to see Jim Anderton today saying the

Alliance’s job is to push Labour closer to his policies - anyone looking at

Labour’s policies would think hes already succeeded.

Ends

© Scoop Media

Gordon Campbell: On the Sony cyber attack

Given the layers of meta-irony involved, the saga of the Sony cyber attack seemed at the outset more like a snarky European art film than a popcorn entry at the multiplex.

Yet now with (a) President Barack Obama weighing in on the side of artistic freedom and calling for the US to make a ‘proportionate response’quickly followed by (b) North Korea’s entire Internet service going down, and with both these events being followed by (c) Sony deciding to backtrack and release The Interview film that had made it a target for the dastardly North Koreans in the first place, then ay caramba…the whole world will now be watching how this affair pans out. More>>