More on Peter Hain's accounting problems

As David Hencke writes "So the disclosure that Peter Hain - seven months after the deadline - still has to file proper accounts for his campaign is a further damning indictment of politicians' behaviour. At the very least, it is an example of political incompetence and ineptitude. If you cannot properly account for some £100,000 of donations to a public authority, how can you claim proper stewardship in running a ministry with over 100,000 people and spending hundreds of billions of pounds every year on benefits?

It is rather ironic that, on the day Mr Hain was going to admit his personal failure to keep proper records of his campaign donations, he issued a speech telling the rest of the country they must take "personal responsibility" for their own savings towards their pensions. A tale of motes and beams, indeed....

Next week, we should know the full story when the final comprehensive list is published. In the meantime, Mr Hain has let down the political process, his party, his cabinet colleagues and the reputations of the donors who gave him money in good faith. The GMB, for example, openly and democratically supported him after hearing a debate of all the contenders at its conference. The union later gave him £10,000 in cash and kind in good faith. They now find out he hasn't officially declared the donation. That looks bad - and the only person to blame, in this case, is Mr Hain himself."


Draw your own conclusions but it doesn't look good for the Orange One.