Peter Hain has been cleared of breaching the Ministerial Code and many in Westminster think the furore over his failure to declare all the donations to his deputy leadership campaign will now die down. But Rosa Prince points out over at the Three Line Whip yesterday’s decision actually raises huge questions about Hain’s version of events and whether he can carry on as a minister.
Hain has been cleared because he told his permanent secretary of the donations to his campaign including one from the GMB union of £10,000—which was not declared until last week—who he was negotiating with in his ministerial capacity at the time. But as Rosa notes, if he did this then surely he was aware of this undeclared donation before he conducted his personal review of his campaign finances and so should have ensured that it was declared at the right time?
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