Kerre Woodham: Mace call a ploy to exploit fear and gain political points

Act's deputy leader Muriel Newman wants to see pepper spray, or mace, legalised for public use in this country because she claims the police are so under-resourced, they can no longer guarantee women's safety.

What a mischievous politician she is, trying to put the boot into an already beleaguered police force by invoking the nightmare of rapists and murderers leaping out of dark bushes and attacking virtuous young women.

First up, men are far more likely to be victims of violence than women. Secondly, as we are all well aware, women are not generally attacked out of the blue by monstrous strangers.

Women are far more likely to be raped or murdered by men they know. Stranger attacks command so many column inches because they are so rare and shocking.

Thirdly, while mace can be used for self-protection, it can also be used by aggressors. A squirt of pepper spray in your eyes and you're not likely to worry too much about your handbag being stolen.

And if you're anything like me, if I can't get to the ringing cellphone in my overcrowded and cluttered bag in time, it's unlikely I'd get to the pepper spray in time to protect what remains of my virtue.

It's also worth remembering that pepper spray can bite the hand that sprays it, too. If the wind's blowing in the wrong direction, you're more likely to be disabled than the low-life intent on harming you.

No, the best way to protect yourself is to use your brains. That's also the best way to resurrect moribund parties languishing in the polls, rather than relying on scaremongering and cheap shots at the boys in blue.