Well today I want to talk about liars and politicians and to get there I’m going to tell you about my Dad, who would have been 80 this year if he hadn’t gone an died on us 22 years ago.

My Dad was possibly the nicest man in the world. Never hurt a fly. He never ever swore unless you consider the word bloody a swear word.

He was the son of a Croydon Publican and so was schooled in hospitality from Day 1. He had a morning suit, a dinner suit and a tuxedo from the age of 13 as he served in weddings and functions. He was courtly.

Now my Dad taught me that to call anyone a liar was one of the very worst insults you could use. As he said, call someone a liar then you better be 100 per cent sure you’re right and can defend your position in a court of law or in a field with pistols at dawn.

That’s because a lie is a very terrible thing.

A lie is not a fib, it’s not a falsehood, it’s not a tall story. A lie is more then that. It’s a deliberate untruth. Something invented that never happened. And it’s done for effect. In other words there is a victim of the lie and that’s the person it’s told to, and it’s done to get advantage over the victim or to hurt them either emotionally or materially.

But in these days of division and declining language skills people are calling people liars left right and centre. Nowadays if someone believes that what is being said isn’t right they’ll just turn around and spit out "Liar!". I’m surprised there aren’t a lot more defamation cases and duels.

So yesterday and today I’ve heard people who should know better shouting that Ian Lees Galloway, Jacinda Ardern and Winston Peters are liars. I can’t bring myself to say that.  

What I will say is this.

When Ian Lees Galloway says that there’s a reason that Sroubek should get residency he’s not lying. He’s just wrong.  After all the thing about absolute discretion is that at the end of the day it’s his opinion. In my opinion, his opinion is terrible.

When the Minister says he gave it lengthy deliberation, when we now know it was an hour and he didn’t read everything, then he’s not lying. He’s just wrong. In my opinion an hour with a 100 page file is not a lengthy deliberation.

When the Prime Minister and the Deputy Prime Minister say there were undisclosed aspects that justify the decision they’re not lying.  They’re just wrong. In my opinion I think they’ve made a big mistake in supporting the Minister and they have also not given the matter lengthy deliberation. 

The real crime here is not lies. It's slap dash, once over lightly, bad decision making combined with naivety and plain bloody mindedness

If Ian Lees Galloway is lying to anyone it’s himself. Because this a man so full of himself and his hubris that he can’t believe he can make a mistake. And as he stubbornly refuses to back down he has written his own death warrant and is bringing down his party, his Prime Minister and his Deputy Prime Minister. Take the portfolio off him.

When I said all this yesterday afternoon I got an email that said all the Labour Party are liars, that called me an apologist for the Prime Minister, and that means I, too was a fork tongued liar. How dare you call me a liar, sir. So Mr Andrew Nugent I demand an apology and if that’s not forthcoming then what do you prefer. Pistols or swords? I’m a sword man myself.