Kate Hawkesby: Sharma's telling us the Emperor has no clothes, will Labour lovers believe it?

Whether you believe Guarav Sharma or not probably depends on whether you support Labour and all that it stands for, or not. Diehard Labour fans who are still defending the Covid response and lockdowns, the people who probably proudly still own Ashley Bloomfield tea towels, will tell you it’s all a storm in a tea cup. They will have signed up for a lifelong subscription to the PM’s spin and they’ll see validity in lines like, ”I reject the premise of the question’. Others though, will see it for what it is. A party steeped in hypocrisy, preaching the kindness line, advocating for mental health and wellbeing, yet not walking the talk. A party claiming to be honest open and transparent, but instead shrouded in lies, manipulation and deceit. The workshop on how to avoid an Official Information Act request is all you need to know about how these guys operate. Machiavellian and under-handed. Denying those of us who pay their salaries and voted for their representation, to even know the truth about what’s really going in. The glaring hypocrisy of claiming to be the most open honest and transparent government ever – all the while looking to remove paper trails and deceive the public, is about as low as it goes. The ‘nothing to see here’ response is wearing thin though, and surely by now, even the apparatchiks are starting to see through it. Gurarv Sharma, unfortunately for the Government, looks a lot less unhinged than Jamie Lee Ross did, if we’re comparing ‘rogue’ MP’s. He’s a smart guy who appears to be telling the truth, who seems addicted to telling the truth at whatever cost, and has proof of his claims to back them up. He is credible, believable and articulate. And worse yet, he’s got some inside the caucus, at least one we know of for sure, who back him. That’s potentially another headache waiting to happen for Labour. But all along I’ve wondered just how beltway this stuff is. It’s hit in a busy news cycle of Nelson floods, human remains, youth crime surges and interest rates hikes. A busy news cycle means your blockbuster story is less likely to last long on the front page. But Sharma’s made sure he’s talking to everybody, getting everywhere and telling his story. And it must be causing ructions inside the party – I mean yes they’ll just expel him but it doesn’t necessarily solve their problems – it could make them worse. In all fairness – to all parties involved here  - there should have been an independent inquiry ordered from the get go. That would have been the only fair way to solve this - instead Labour's made a hash of it, and tried to destroy a man in the process. Running and hiding from the inquiry option was a mistake for Labour. By not having one, all they do is look like they’re confirming everything Sharma’s said about them – that they are indeed bullies, who gaslight or shut down anyone who questions them. It’s an ugly mess for a party that likes to stand on a foundation of kindness. They’re becoming less credible and believable, it’s got an Emperor has no clothes vibe. But I guess if you blindly love the Emperor, you won’t see it that way.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.