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I've just seen Nick on the TV! Wow - do you post remotely Nick or does someone else do it for you?

I am not a great fan of the police, a notorious vested interest group, but an anonymous policeman at the Yard summed it up as follows :

"They {the politicians} made the rules but the arrogance of power made them think it did'nt apply to them".

Leonora Hemsley paraphrased - only the little people obey the rules.

What I don't understand is why Hain, Wendy Alexander and Harman didn't resign when this first blew up. They hadn't broken some arcane rule, they had broken the law.
Or failing that why Brown did not fire them. Had he done so he would have limited the damage and been seen as decisive rather than being seen as an indecisive follower of events. That is a definition of weakness.

Although many Labour Politicians are currently regarded with much disdain, Peter Hain (negating this error) was one of the better Cabinet members of the current government. I think this is reflected quite clearly in David Davis's response to Peter Hain's resignation at lunchtime. Ultimately I believe Peter Hain did make an honest mistake - but the consequences should be no different in this case. He made a mistake and he must suffer the consequences. The most interesting part of this 'scandal' will be the results of the police investigation. The word 'scandal' is used far too often by the media in situations where few of the true facts are known. Until the results of the police investigation are known I think it is important to keep an open mind in such matters. For those who may be interested - I have no political affiliations.

Would Hain have remembered the donations if the Abrahams scandal had not surfaced?

Is this a case of Government Ministers having passed so many anti- corruption laws that they haven't got a clue any more about what's illegal and what isn't? Or do they think that all these anti-corruption laws are intended to catch sleazy Tories and Liberals but do not apply to them?

This is really just peoples ego talking. Hain should've been more on the ball but the Electoral Commission and police involvement is adding more nonsense on top of nonsense. The more important issue is personal and organisational development. Instead of raking over the issues and being bound by process, more investment in better training and policy development would've been appropriate. Better choices could've been made by everyone.

What now for Hain? As a former minister for the Department of Work and pensions, and someone who has mistakenly fallen off the fence, Peter Hain is ideally placed to understand the legislation and discuss issues with people on the ground. Britain has huge problems with people and communities left behind and his experience may have some use in this area.

If Peter Hain takes up this suggestion he may rediscover his own roots and be able to act as a champion for many people who need genuine help. In some ways, I see the attention of a former cabinet minister would send a signal to people that they matter, and that Peter Hain himself may get more respect in return. So, instead of this being an end, I see a new beginning.

Nick, you really should be ashamed of yourself for making such a schoolboy howler - in your previous post.

He didn't 'fail to declare over 拢100,000', he just 'declared it late' - as he clarified in his resignation speech.

Oh dear. Even when caught red-handed, they can't quite bring themselves to admit the truth, can they?

Now where's Justin to remind us that Hain's a decent, honest, hard-working chap with a successful track record. Sorry Justin, I don't believe he's had a proper job in his life.

Good riddance.

Dithering and indecision. This is the Major government all over again; one relaunch after another and always ending in the same result, another PR disaster. THEy told us they would stop spinning but it's worse than ever. Time to go.

When one looks back at New Labours ten years in power the number of 'scandles' is quite incredible. Yes, Hain has now gone, but he hung on until the very last second. New Labour Ministers have never had any integrity or shame,they have been and are brass necked opportunists through and through. From the freeloading Blairs,an illegal war, right through Prescott, Byers, Mandleson,Campbell, Falconer, Blunkett,Jowell,Harman,and now Hain their edict has been, 'don't do as we do, do as we tell you'. This has been proved time and again by the way they behave, e.g. send their children to private schools and a whole host of other self serving actions including top jobs for chronies. As well as being the most incompetent Uk government of all time they have collectively feathered their own nests,wasted billions of public money,created a debt and crime ridden society and widened the gap between rich and poor. One must readily concede New Labour has had some very caring policies but incompetence and self serving interests have defeated its aims. Will we ever recover and will we ever be rid of them. We can only hope.

Transparency? From a government where every pronouncement from its leader is is so convoluted that it would take a translator of even greater gifts than a hybrid of Edward Fitzgerald and Alan Turing to turn them into something intelligible.
That it's needed seems clear from many other reports of this saga suggesting that Hain was at the very least giving strong statements of support from his position as a minister to a number of those business's / individuals who had contributed to his election fund. Were the audiences for those statements in a position to know that Hain had accepted election funding from the very people he was recommending? Might they have sought further information if they had known?
That's why transparency matters and we aren't getting it anywhere from this government

With 拢55 Billion of taxpayers money being wasted propping up Northern Wreck; The records of 25 Million people lost on CDs; MOD confidential laptops being nicked like ripe apples off a farmer's tree; s Home Secretary oblivious to the facts of life in 21st-century Britain.... etc, etc, ... It' a wonder the police aren't called in every other Tuesday.

Hain epitomised this Brown government: A lethal mix of arrogance and incompetence.

Ecclestone, Mandelson, Tessa Jowell, Keith Vaz, Robin Cook, Stephen Byers, David Blunket, 鈥渃ash for honours鈥� and 3 current police investigations into Labour鈥檚 finances. I wonder just how smug John Major is feeling right now. Have you asked him ?

Interesting to see that Mr Purnell who has taken over from Mr Hain doesn't think Labour has been tainted! What world do these people live in? Are they in such a bubble that they cannot see the damage being done to their party by sleaze?

Whiter than white apparantly - maybe Gordon should get someone called Darren (or Daz) to the cabinet quick!

Yippeee, Lord Levy is going to publish his memoirs now, following hot foot upon Tony Blair's decision to do the same.

Two books which will be going straight to the top of my list........... of trash not to buy!

Andrew A:

Peter Hain (a man I have a very high regard for) is one of our finest politicians.

This is a man who has held a deep sense of conviction for righteousness from a very early age. A fierce campaigner against apartheid, he has even been willing to suffer for his principles:

* At aged ten, he was awoken in the night to have his bedroom searched by the South African police searching for incriminating documents that they thought posed threat to the government.

* In 1974, he was sent a letter bomb that would have killed him were it not for faulty wiring.

* In 1976, he was tried and acquitted over an alleged bank robbery having been set up by the South African government.

The fact is, Peter Hain is a very decent and honourable man who has made an enormous contribution to transforming the society around him.

Having been brought up to respect the working man, and respect the law and others it amazes me.
Labour or New Labour is just the same as all the parties, useless really and can only get credit for doing the wrong thing all the time.
We have seen endless posturers and self servers who seem to have no link with working people at all.
Is their daily mission to give it all away, to other countries and people who have really no earthly right to benefit wholesale from our efforts?
Hain reflects the general shrug of the shoulders from people who are becoming enured to the exposure of more buffoonery from our so called leaders.

Peter Hain is a bit of a rigid yes man for me but he seemed principled and caring enough. As Justin (#11) suggests, he's done better with the power he had than the cheap and easy comments of keyboard warriors. Stop and think about that for a moment.

This is a man who held great office and made a mistake he came clean on. Compare that to the cheap and nasty comments of people empowered with no more than an internet connection. Given a choice who would you trust more, Hain or some anonymous mouth?

Nick could correct me on this but, I think, it was one of the more switched on Tories, John Bercow, who said: "You must become what you wish the world to be." This is quite true and very Daoist, actually. If you want better set a better lead yourself.

All hail Blessed Leader!

Sorry Justin,

I've read your list of notable events in his life - but I'm not sure what point you're trying to make.

Hain - like most Labour MPs (and quite a few in the other parties) have never lived or worked in a world other than student politics, unionised or political lobbying.

I can't think of a worse candidate for a senior government appointment than someone with that sort of a background.

I'm afraid we're going to have to disagree on what constitutes good experience for high office.

NB. The transformation I've witnessed over the past 11 years, is not one which which I approve.

Re No. 11,

All this may be true, but he just didn't take the rules he and his colleagues introduced seriously. In the end he came across as at best complacent and at worst arrogant.

What of the ghostly 'think tank', Nick..? Shouldn't you news hounds be probing that part of the whole messy matter a little more ruthlessly..??

When are the apologists for Peter Hain going to realise he could go to prison for what he has done?

If you said to every erring child 'never mind I know you didn't mean it' thye'd all grow up to be wrong 'uns.

You make mistakes you take the wrap.

Rach:

I have often caught a glimpse of reports with blackberry like devices on News 24. I suspect it is possible it was posted and written on such a device and then "wired in".

Nick

Peter Hain was first forced to admit he had not some declared donations by the revelations of the blogger Guido Fawkes.

In your earlier blogs you seemed to imply that politicians breaking the donations laws was not worth your time investigating.

You are better than that. Why not take a lesson from Guido and start investigating these issues. There's lots to look into:

In the case of Harriet Harman it is suggested that there are large undeclared loans to her campaign which you have not mentioned.

In the case of Wendy Alexander it is suggested that large donations were funnelled via an organisation specifically set up to do this and legally avoid individual donor names being revealled - but that she then failed to register this organisation and the funds on her MSP interests.

In the case of Abrahams I believe there are still outstanding questions about why local planning decisions were reversed after donations were made. Go up north and find out. Also enquire who changed/made the decisions at the Ministry of Transport about the related highway to Abrahams development off the A1.

In the case of Peter Hain there is still the question of whether the "think tank" was genuine or merely a money laundering operation.

I find it hard to comprehend why many of the people who posted a comment regarding your blog have accused Gordon Brown of being "indecisive". Brown has put his trust into a Government Department to do their job properly, if he had intervened then surely people would accuse the Electoral Commission of being worthless if the PM can just step in, instead he put Electoral Commission first and took their advice - where is the weakness in that? I'm sure if David Cameron had been in charge he would have been worrying about which slogan and his "public perception" before listening to his Government Department.

If I "overlooked" a speed limit because I was too busy and was caught on camera doing so, would I be able to avoid the points that would normally ensue?