Ryan Bridge: Labour's fallen for Nicola's election trap

Early Edition with Ryan Bridge · Aug 24, 2026 · 1m · transcript

Labour's fallen into a cunning wee trap set by Nicola Willis a few weeks ago.

She laid the bait —releasing 'fiscal rules' her party would abide by if re-elected— and challenged Labour to do the same.

On the weekend, they took the bait and released their own 'fiscal strategy'. Which is different form their 'fiscal plan' – more on that in a second.

The problem for Labour is that its strategy reveals that it wants to do exactly the things National has been saying they want to.

Tax, borrow, and spend more.

There's a gap between what they say they're willing to spend and what they have announced…