Former Prime Minister Helen Clark hasn’t been slow in criticising our government’s response to the attacks on Iran.

She’s not just criticising it - she’s slamming it. Saying that it’s “a disgrace” for not condemning Israel and the United States and, instead, criticising Iran’s “indiscriminate” retaliatory attacks.

Helen Clark says the Government knows full well that Israel and the US are breaking international law with these strikes and the Prime Minister and the Foreign Minister should be saying so.

She says the Government knows that negotiations regarding Iran’s nuclear capability were underway and we should be ripping into Israel and the US for what they started on Saturday.

But here’s where I’m at. When I hear about people in Iran cheering and celebrating the demise of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who am I to criticise what’s happened?

Who am I to tell these people: “Oh no no, stop celebrating, it’s not right what’s happened. Israel and the US aren't playing by the rules.” Who am I to say that to those people?

And who is Helen Clark to say that?

This is the problem you get with people on the left side of the political spectrum, who seem to be incapable of seeing the bigger picture.

Has Helen Clark and the opposition MPs lining up to criticise the Government forgotten about the death sentences handed out to some of the people involved in the recent mass protests?

They want things done to the letter every time. But what if this brings a better life for the people of Iran?

It’s a big if. Because who knows whether this will be the end of the current regime running Iran or not?

Regime change is easy to talk about but very difficult to do. Because it’s not just the regime, it’s who fills the vacuum afterwards.

As we saw in Iraq. Yes, they got rid of Saddam Hussein, but then they got rid of the Iraqi army as well and that’s when it really hit the fan with other extremists and terror groups all wanting a piece of the action.

So, who knows how this is going to end up in the long term? But, when all is said and done, for me this is about the people of Iran.

Which is why you’re not going to hear me piling into our government the way Helen Clark is.

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Isn’t it amazing that, after all the time spent wringing our hands over the price of electricity, we still haven’t bitten the bullet and gone full boar with solar energy?

You might have heard Chris Hipkins hinting yesterday that, if Labour forms the next government, solar will be on the agenda.

He isn’t giving too much away but says, yes, ramping up the use of solar power will be one of Labour’s election policies.

There’ll be no details, though, until after the Budget in May. That’s because he wants to get a better idea of how much money he’s got to play with.

But, if last election is anything to go by, it looks like Labour might be resurrecting the policy it had back then of providing $4,000 grants to help people install solar panels.

In my mind, it is ridiculous that we don’t require new houses to be fitted out with solar panels. It would add to the cost of the build but, long-term, I think it would be a game changer.

I’m not the only one who thinks this. Sir Ian Taylor is saying today that electrification is the future and solar is how we get there.

Solar on homes. Solar on farms. Solar on commercial buildings. And I couldn’t agree more.

He says the cheapest electricity is the electricity you don’t have to move.

So his version of full-boar solar includes storage capacity - not just solar panels - at our houses, on our farms and on our commercial buildings.

He says: “Every kilowatt generated where it is used is one that does not need to be transmitted across the country. that reduces losses. it reduces strain on the grid. and it reduces the need for expensive new transmission infrastructure that ultimately pushes power prices higher.”

No argument from me.

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The arrest of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor tells me several things, one of which is how much the late Queen really dropped the ball on this one. And that’s putting it politely.

She was the one who protected him when all the stories started to emerge. She was the one who, apparently, helped him out with some of the hush money paid out to one of his accusers.

Which only fueled the impression - rightly or wrongly - that the Royal Family thought it was above everything and everyone else.

Which is why I think this development is a brilliant opportunity for the monarchy.

Because this takes the monarchy down a peg or two, which can only be a good thing in the public’s eyes.

King Charles obviously sees an opportunity. He hasn’t been slow in coming forward, saying “the law must take its course”.

We’ve also got the likes of Major General Alastair Bruce, who is a historian and a royal watcher for Sky News, saying that this is “the most shocking day for the British Crown, to have a former prince of the blood arrested”.

Other commentators are describing the arrest as “extraordinary”, “unprecedented”, “spectacular” and a “body blow”.

Whether it is a body blow remains to be seen. Because these developments overnight show that the monarchy is just as answerable as the rest of us. Which is no bad thing, is it?

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National's Matt Doocey and Labour's Megan Woods joined John MacDonald for Politics Friday this week.

They covered some of the biggest topics from the week from the Infrastructure Commissions report, NZ First pushing for English to become an official language, and they reflect on the February 2011 earthquake sixteen years on.

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How do you feel about being told you need to spend more money?

That’s what the Reserve Bank’s chief economist wants you to do.

As expected, the bank’s governor announced yesterday that there would be no change in the official cash rate because the bank doesn’t want to do anything that could put the brakes on the economic recovery.

Which some people are feeling the benefits of, while others aren’t. Which the Reserve Bank describes as an uneven recovery. Meaning we’re still in for a bit of a haul before we all feel some sort of benefit.

Tell that, though, to the bank’s chief economist Paul Conway who is giving us all a bit of a hurry along, saying people need to stop being so cautious with their money and get out and spend more.

How realistic is that, do you think?

If you’re not having a “tell him he’s dreaming moment”, then you must be one of the people who are already feeling the benefit of an economic recovery.

But, generally, what planet is Paul Conway on, telling us to spend more?

Because we’re doing that already. Not out of choice. Not because we’re feeling particularly flush. But we’re spending more just to get by.

Two days ago, new numbers came out showing that grocery prices are still going up.

White bread prices up 57.9 percent in the past year.

Chocolate up 20 percent.

Not to mention mince. That’s pink gold these days.

Which is why I think this statement by the Reserve Bank’s chief economist that we need to stop being so tight and start spending more is just ridiculous.

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Bic Runga is back with her first new album in fifteen years.

She spoke with John MacDonald about her new album, Red Sunset, and touched on what genres inspired the album.

"I'm always inspired by anything from the 60's and 70's especially."

She also spoke about her biggest hit Sway, and its everlasting popularity thirty years on.

"It found a life of its own, I never thought that would happen."

Runga embarks on an Australasian tour with the new album and will return home to Christchurch to play the Isaac Theatre Royal on Sunday, March 29th.

The new album, Red Sunset is out now all streaming platforms.

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One of the problems with politicians is that they often stake their political survival on big infrastructure projects.

Which is why we’ve got Waimakariri MP Matt Doocey and Waimakariri mayor Dan Gordon jumping up and down saying like hell, there’ll be no Woodend Bypass.

The thing that’s got them excited is the new national infrastructure plan released by the Infrastructure Commission which, in a nutshell, says we should be building more hospitals and less big roads. They’ll be getting no argument from me.

Dan Gordon is rejecting any suggestion the bypass is a lower priority than other projects. But he would say that. He says more than 20,000 vehicles go through Woodend every day, and that’s only going to increase.

He says: “The town is quite literally divided in two by the state highway and the risk this has posed for decades is not acceptable. As the community grows this risk only increases.”

And he’s not having a bar of the Infrastructure Commission’s push for more tolling charges on roads, either.

I think he’s pushing that one uphill. Because, it’s very clear to me that charging tolls to use roads is the way of the future. It has to be. because, as a country, we don’t have the money.

Meanwhile, MP Matt Doocey is saying there’s no way the bypass is going to go down the pecking order.

He says: “If experts think the date for exceeding capacity of the current road in Woodend is still some years away, they clearly weren't stuck in traffic last Friday night after work like I was.”

He’s not anti-tolls, though. Matt Doocey says if paying a toll means roads being built sooner and faster, then that’s how it has to be.

But I think he and Dan Gordon need to show some fortitude and, instead of banging-on about the Woodend Bypass just because they’ve staked their political careers on it, they should admit that we need to make the big calls as to what really is most important.

Because I can’t argue with what the Infrastructure Commission is saying.

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Chris Hipkins says we need to take the politics out of the Infrastructure Commissions National Infrastructure Plan.

The Leader of the Opposition told John MacDonald that he thinks the Commission has done a "really good job" on their recent report, and we need to focus on the basics.

"They've pointed out we have an over reliance on shiny new things, and we haven't done the basic maintenance of the things we've already got."

"We need to take the politics out of it and focus on a long-term plan."

On the rise of Winson Peters and NZ First in the polls, he said that Peter's lifetime in politics has given some unique political skills of reinvention.

"At the moment, he's trying to be an opposition MP while also trying to be the third highest ranking minster in the current government."

When asked if he has considered working with Peters to form the next government, Hipkins said that's something they will look at closer to election day.

"We'll set out closer to the election where we've got common ground with other parties."

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