Helen claimed the Herald was wrong. But Audrey Young was right.
Policy made on the hoof is rarely good policy. Never is this more evident than in the final days of election campaigns, when parties are wrestling for votes.
Many a pre-election pledge has fallen victim to a more considered judgment in the aftermath of the contest. That will almost certainly happen to unemployment relief packages released this week by the two major parties.
With recession aggravated by the international credit crisis, National and Labour have been falling over each other to reassure those fearful of losing their jobs. They have also been falling over themselves.
National was first out of the blocks with a vague proposal to help highly mortgaged people keep their homes while temporarily unemployed. Labour responded with a plan to help working couples with a job search allowance if one of them was made redundant.
Haste came at a cost, however. The Prime Minister, whose command of policy is normally impeccable, yesterday accused the Herald of misreporting one of the details.
In fact, she was wrong. Obviously Labour's scheme had been thrown together too quickly for her to fully acquaint herself with its abatement regime. Such are the perils of policy made on the hoof.
