SMOKING MP OFFERS APOLOGY

A National Party health spokesman, who set fire to a corporate box while smoking 'P', says he has "learnt some valuable lessons about public life".
Dr Jonathan Coleman, a former GP and National's mental health spokesman, attracted a barrage of criticism after lighting-up in the exclusive corporate box at U2's Auckland concert last weekend, immolating a number of well-heeled fans and causing Bono to abandon the hit 'Fire', mid-song.
Yesterday, Dr.Coleman told The Kiwi Herald that in hindsight he would "do things differently and stick to the smoked seafood platter rather than smoking the 'P' pipe which had been handed him 'by a man with an uncanny resemblance to a former party leader.'
Dr. Coleman said he was not a regular smoker and had 'never inhaled but this time things just got totally out of hand.'
"One moment I was taking the pipe and the next thing Bono was leading a National Party rally in a wall of flames. It was bloody marvellous."
The newly promoted Dr. Coleman told the Herald that he now accepted he had been a little niave and would not be accepting gifts from admiring constituents in the future.
Meanwhile National Party Leader John Key said: "Dr Coleman is a new MP, still learning to live his life under a microscope. Let's keep this in perspective."