Clarkson angry over Brash attacks

By Anna Bowden
Tauranga MP Bob Clarkson today said he was brassed off at the personal attacks unleashed in Parliament and he was saddened by publicity surrounding his leader's alleged extra-marital affair.
National Party MPs were in desperate damage control as the scandal threatened to bring down their leader Don Brash.
Some National MPs believed Dr Brash would not survive in Parliament if his reputation for honesty and integrity was shattered by the revelations.
Senior MPs closed ranks yesterday as Dr Brash took leave to be with his wife Je Lan after admitting their marriage was in trouble.
But Mr Clarkson today told the Bay of Plenty Times: "All I can say is that I am saddened by what his family is going through and it's his job to work it out ...
"Personal life shouldn't come into politics, that's a fact. It's one of the things that brasses me off in Parliament, it's the personal attacks. Your performance should be based on what you do for the country, not your own personal problems."
Bay of Plenty MP Tony Ryall today told the Bay Times: "I've got no comment to make at all other than the fact that Dr Brash has asked to be given time to work through issues with his family and he should be given that time and it's his business."
The woman at the centre of the rumours, Auckland businesswoman and Business Roundtable vice-chairwoman Diane Foreman, did not deny them when she was questioned by TV3.
"I don't have to answer questions about my life. It's Don Brash's life you're interested in," she said. "I find this totally insulting."
However, her husband Bill Foreman said they were "absolute rubbish" and his marriage was "absolutely fine".
It was a National MP, understood to be Rakaia's Brian Connell, who broke the scandal when he challenged Dr Brash to deny the rumours at a caucus meeting.
According to accounts of the confrontation, he told Dr Brash he was not fit to lead the party or be prime minister if he had not been honest with his wife.
The MP clashed with Dr Brash in November when he complained about the insignificant portfolios he had been given after a caucus reshuffle and he was dumped to the bottom of the ranking for publicly criticising the leader.
Senior MPs last night appealed for Dr Brash to be left alone while he worked out his marriage problems but without a denial from the party leader the situation was rapidly running out of control.
In Parliament, speculation centred on whether National's caucus would tell Dr Brash he had to go, or whether the intense personal and political pressure would force him to resign of his own accord.
There were claims he had offered to quit on Saturday.
The scandal has thrown National into chaos just as it had the Government on the ropes over the election spending controversy.
There is no single, obvious successor if Dr Brash goes.
Finance spokesman John Key and former leader Bill English are frontrunners, but Gerry Brownlee is the deputy leader and would normally take over.
However, he does not have sufficient support in caucus to replace Dr Brash.
There was speculation that Mr Brownlee would assume the leadership as an interim measure to give the caucus time to work out who it wanted to lead the party in the long term.
It was not known when Dr Brash would return to Parliament - or if he would return at all. He said in his statement that he and Je Lan were working through their difficulties, and both were committed to making their marriage work.
Dr Brash separated from Erica Brash in 1985 after an affair with Je Lan who was his assistant at the New Zealand Kiwifruit Authority. He divorced in 1988 and married Je Lan in 1989. They have a son together and children from previous marriages. Additional reporting NZPA