Calder's Fifth Law of Politics

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This Law runs:

Beware of arguments that involve expressing indignation on behalf of a third party.

To see what I mean, look at a typical debate over education. The Conservatives propose a reform. Labour attacks it on the grounds that it is an insult to teachers. Conservatives respond by accusing Labour of not trusting parents.

The purpose of this style of argument, on both sides, is avoid the merits of the reform being discussed.

Since you ask, Calder's first four Laws of Politics are:

1. If all parties are united in support of a measure, it will turn out to be a disaster.
2. The more power the state takes to itself, the more arbitrarily that power will be exercised.
3. When politicians do something which they think is very clever, it will eventually turn out to have been very stupid.
4. The more extreme a person's views, the more certain he or she will be that the majority of voters share them.