I don’t like John Key, and I think he’s a disaster for the National Party and a disaster for NZ. I have had plenty to say about this abject loser on this blog, but I have not (as far as I know), presented any facts about him that were not true.

Currently there are a number of left wingers, liberals and progressives making allegations that John Key lied when he said in parliament that Standard and Poors had stated in a meeting that “if there was a change of Government, that downgrade (of NZ’s credit rating) would be much more likely”.

I questioned this in a post myself, but I was careful not to state the lying as a fact. Not so other left wing bloggers, left wing “journalists”, the Labour Party, The Greens and various other left wing political sources. Not PC for example has made a direct allegation of lying, but this allegation is itself based on deliberately misrepresented “facts”. Not PC says this-

About the lie he (Key) told parliament after last weeks’ downgrade that an even bigger downgrade would have happened under a Labour Government—and he knew this (he says) because Standard and Poors told him.

In fact Key has never claimed that S & P told him this. Here’s what really went down–

Phil Goff asked the prime minister, “Is it correct that New Zealand’s credit rating with those two agencies is now the same as Spain’s – a country that National has constantly derided as being an economy in trouble?” Mr Key answered in part: “when Standard and Poor’s was giving a meeting in New Zealand about a month ago, what it did say was that there was about a 30 per cent chance that we would be downgraded. That is what happens when one is on a negative outlook. It did go on to say, though, that if there was a change of government, that downgrade would be much more likely.”

Note no claim of being at the meeting, or receiving the news first hand from S & P. Not PC’s claim is incorrect, and as it still stands after I have pointed this out to him (in a comment that he deleted of course) it makes him more of a liar on this matter than John Key.

The essence of a lie is that the liar has to know that what he/ she is saying is untrue before he says it. Given that Key was acting on wrong information, but information he believed was correct, he cannot therefore be accused of lying.

Whereas Not PC must know that Key made no claims to be at the meeting, and he must know that Key was acting on information received. Knowing these two facts, he still states that Key has lied, but this in my humble opinion, only makes Not PC the real liar.

Furthermore he makes a similarly rash accusation (sourced from the Watermelon Party) against Steven Joyce without the full facts being known.

Not PC finishes by falling back on the old gag about you can tell a politician is lying because his lips are moving. I’d suggest that given his untrue pronouncements on this matter, Not PC would probably make a pretty typical politician, (something he once wanted to be).

You can see Key’s explanation in this video.