Obama criticised by Bill English - secret tape

ONE NEWS: The US elections are causing some strife for politicians in New Zealand with fur flying over a three-month-old secret recording of National's deputy leader Bill English criticising the man who has just been elected President of the United States.
John Key is betting on a National win on Saturday but there's a wild card in play with the emergence of another secret recording.

Key is furious about the timing.

"I'm just not going to get in the mud and roll around with a pig because if you do both parties come off looking pretty bad. I'm going to leave the Labour Party to the muckraking," Key says.

It's his deputy Bill English who has been caught out, suggesting in comments, recorded three months ago at a cocktail function, that the newly elected US President Barack Obama may not be man enough to go to war.

"I'm a bit worried about this whole Obama and Europe thing, just because there's a limited effectiveness in being moralistic about international relations and Europe turned out to be particularly ineffective even in its own backyard," English says in the recording.

"And the US, you can argue, over-do it and Bush should have put a different window - a different window dressing - there still needs someone willing to pull the trigger."

Labour leader Helen Clark says English has shown National to be militaristic.

"What Mr English's comments show is that this is a very militaristic party which would commit young Kiwis to wars which have no just basis at all," says Clark.

National claims Labour is behind the tape's release.

"The Labour Party's eyes sparkle and light up when they've got dirt," says Key.

But Labour says the alleged leaker, whose name has emerged on websites, is not a party member.

The dirt is flying in all directions right now.

"I thought we might have a debate today between John Key and me, seeing as he won't talk to me and won't debate me," says Winston Peters, New Zealand First leader.

It seems to be all about dirt digging rather than debating right now as the campaign heads into its dying days.