Nice show of support Labour; not

3News political reporter Tova O'Brien has dropped a bit of a bombshell on the David Shearer dead fish story; check this out:

If David Shearer didn't jump he was probably going to be rolled – that much, we already know.

But now it's emerged that it wasn't just a small faction inside the Labour Party that wanted him gone – it was his entire caucus.

In fact, every single one of them knew Mr Shearer was going to present two dead fish in Parliament last week, and no one stopped him.

An 11-day road show begins this weekend, with all three contenders for the leadership fronting up to the party membership to say why they should be leader.

So who's it going to be? 

 

So what we now know is that every member of Labour's caucus knew that the fish stunt was coming, but not a single one had enough integrity to suggest to David Shearer that it was a bad idea. That is a real indictment on Labour's dysfunctional caucus, especially those on the front bench; Grant Robertson, David Parker, Jacinda Ardern, Clayton Cosgrove, Shane Jones and others. They should hang their heads in shame.

We wonder if this revelation will be the straw that breaks the camel's back for Mr Shearer, and leads to his resignation as MP for Mt Albert. He must be totally crestfallen that not a single MP in his caucus, even the deputy leader who according to Matt McCarten was totally loyal and didn't undermine him, did not support him last Tuesday. They let him go and make a fool of himself in the House, and when they laughed, they weren't laughing with him; they were laughing AT David Shearer.

Politics is a lonely business at times. David Shearer must be feeling especially lonely at the moment. We would not blame him at all if he told Labour where to stick Mt Albert, and took his leave from the plotters, time-servers and self-serving unionists that fill Labour's benches. The warlords of Somalia would be a doddle by comparison. 

 

Labour needs more than a new leader. The parliamentary wing of the party needs to take a long, hard look at itself.