KEY POINTS:
The Prime Minster moved swiftly last night to have disgraced MP Taito Phillip Field expelled from the Labour Party, saying he invited it with public comments that he may run against the party at the next election.
Party president Mike Williams said Mr Field's comments were a breach of the party's constitution and had therefore invited expulsion.
It follows the Mangere MP's criticisms of the Labour Party in two interviews broadcast on TVNZ and TV3 last night in which he questioned the party's loyalty to him.
Helen Clark made it clear that Mr Field's comments were the last straw and she was angry that he may have deliberately timed them to overshadow her annual beginning-of-the-year statement to Parliament.
"You cannot have a situation where someone appears in the media cutting across my statement to Parliament as Prime Minister, threatening to sue me and saying that he's thinking of running for someone else.
"That is 50 steps too far and coming on top of the Labour Party, frankly, being drawn into disrepute from his activities. The president will be taking action to the New Zealand [party] council."
The move will not affect the Government's ability to govern - it could still comfortably pass a confidence vote with the support of New Zealand First and United Future and the abstention of the Greens.
But with one less vote to rely on, it may have to turn to a combination of three parties to get legislation passed, something it is used to doing.
The Greens promised to abstain on confidence votes as part of their co-operation agreement with the Government.
Helen Clark said she had double-checked last night the solidity of that arrangement with Greens co-leader Jeanette Fitzsimons and was assured there was no change.
Mr Field, who is under police investigation after allegations of bribery and corruption, suggested yesterday that political pressure might be influencing the investigation and raised concerns about "lynch mobs" and "kangaroo courts".
He said he was innocent, but had been told by the Prime Minister's office not to speak out about the case.
He questioned Labour's loyalty and, asked if he felt abandoned by the party, said "all indications show that".
Mr Field said he would seek re-election to Parliament next year and did not rule out standing as an independent or for another party.
"I will be standing for Parliament again because I think it's one sure way of vindicating myself in the eyes of the community ... ... Whether it's with Labour, that is something that has yet to be determined."
TV3 also reported that Mr Field had hinted off-camera he might take legal action against Helen Clark for labelling his actions "immoral" and "unethical".
The Prime Minister was incensed by that suggestion.
"The real issue is that here you are, the Labour Party stood by you, it said you're innocent until proven guilty.
"It has cut a lot of slack and you claim you've been neglected by the party and you felt so badly about it that you might stand for somebody else at the next election. Well, at that point, we're not fools."
Responding to Mr Field's comments that he had been badly treated, she said: "Anyone could see that that is a ridiculous statement. The Labour Party has been very unhappy about the behaviour Mr Field was engaged in but we have taken the position that people are innocent until proven guilty."
Mr Field's lawyer, Satiu Simativa Perese, said last night that his client had not threatened to stand against an official Labour candidate. "He will take advice with respect to the attempt to remove him from the Labour Party membership."
Of the suggestion that Mr Field might sue Helen Clark, Mr Perese said it was an "injudicious comment" and "it's not something that's in the immediate future nor in the pipeline".
"It was just a way of venting his frustration at how he now feels with respect to the legal matters being compromised by the Prime Minister of the country calling him immoral and continuing to berate him as being unethical."
Mr Field threatened last June to leave Labour and stand as an independent or for another party but Labour took no action.
National Party leader John Key said Helen Clark's leadership over the Field issue had been weak.
