Paying for it - Williams-Glenn-Winston

I would credit the Mad Butcher with more tact than Labour's rogue pet money-dragon, Owen Glenn. The email trail from Glenn to the back door of Winston Peter's place that was splashed across the weekend papers seem just too good to be true. Too contrived. But no-one doubts that is, at the very least, an appropriate summary.

The aging egotist - Glenn that is, not Winston - has intrigued his way across the political landscape, using his wealth as a means to ingratiate himself to power and then as a tool to buy political influence. I've covered Mike Williams, Owen Glenn and Steven Ching before and Mr Bradbury challenged the Maori Party to name names over the bribe offer to go with Labour at the last election; so I was glad to hear Matthew Hooton on National Radio just now reminding people that Glenn was behind that mysterious yacht and the murky bribe.

The position is not untenable for Winston. The old reptile has this ability to slither out of the grasp of competing swamp creatures and end up basking on the best rock in the pool. Glenn on the other hand has already been publicly distanced from Labour, and is too tainted for even Williams to string along.

As the Herald reported:
The Herald had been asking about his living in Monaco and he replied: "The Government is planning to make me the consul-general [honorary consul] of Monaco."
He added: "If Winston ever gets off his arse - you can print that!"

What a classy, cosmopolitan and suave representative to the playground of the super-rich and royalty. Can't see Winston so much as adjusting his tie in these circumstances. As for Labour - it's just compounding bad news. They're already in Glenn's vortex of dodginess. They'll be forced to orchestrate something in the next few days to shift the public gaze.