National Party Leader John Key says Helen Clark must take immediate action to resolve the fiasco around disgraced MP Taito Phillip Field.

“Helen Clark can’t just run for cover and say and do nothing. Mr Field is refusing to talk to police even though Labour’s leadership put him on gardening leave so the police could investigate him.

“If Helen Clark believes Mr Field’s actions have been unethical - as she said last year - why the silence now? Is she going to tell Mr Field to co-operate with the police, or, by her silence, does she condone his actions?

“We don't want her to comment on the police investigation, but she needs to make it clear to her MP that he needs to work with the investigation and fully co-operate with every request from the police. And she should make it clear that Mr Field risks expulsion by refusing.

“If the police can’t get a resolution, then the danger is that Mr Field sits out the rest of this term being bankrolled by the taxpayer. That would be a disgraceful turn of events.

“Prime Ministers have to lead. They can’t just sit there and do and say nothing. Helen Clark at one time campaigned on accountability for her ministers and MPs.

“Her silence on Mr Field’s stonewalling also sends a terrible message to the public and sets a shocking precedent to those who have little or no respect for the police.

“If an MP won’t co-operate with the police, why should anybody else?

“MPs create the laws of the land and they should not be seen to be ignoring them. In 1999 Helen Clark wanted to restore public confidence in the political integrity of Parliament – yet this fiasco does nothing to achieve that goal.

“The only answer to her lack of action is that Helen Clark’s Government has a one-seat majority and is not confident of maintaining it. That means that politics is getting in the way of the maintenance of the law.

“Helen Clark has a responsibility to the whole of Parliament to clear this mess up - for the sake of all MPs. She is failing in her responsibilities.”