Maybe it's just my republican DNA playing silly buggers, but various coloured warning lights start flashing when a member of the British aristocracy starts meddling in domestic affairs.
Lord Ashcroft is familiar with the NZ public for offering a large sack of cash to finding the medals stolen from the Waiouru Army Museum. He has most recently been behind the introduction of Crime Stoppers, which has got the Kiwiblog groupies happy clapping. Indeed, David Farrar rejoices in the fact that 10,000 out of 1,000,000 is good odds. No harm in the other 990,000, eh.
More worrying was NatRad's Morning Report sting on Crime Busters, which is operated from Old Blighty. Kiwi slang aside, there are very worrying issues when NZ crime is being tampered by the UK surveillance state mentality. The UK might be keen to pulp the civil freedoms of Magna Carta, selling England by the pound, but here we have this thing about justice. This is New Zealand. We do things differently here.
For one thing, we don't convict on gossip. Hearsay is not reasonable cause. Secondly, as the RNZ chick demonstrated, the Brits look about as competent as 018 Manilla. Thirdly, by privatising part of the justice sector, you make large parts of the system outside the Official Information Act. Fuck that shit.
