Peter Hain: don't write him off yet...

This is not the first time Peter Hain has vowed to clear his name. Every other time he succeeded. Here is a potted guide to an extraordinary career:

** Born in Nairobi in 1950. His parents returned to South Africa when he was three months old and lived there until 1966, mostly in Pretoria. The house had black servants.

** His parents joined the anti-apartheid movement. He remembers being woken up at the age of ten at five in the morning by South African special branch going through his motor racing files searching for incriminating evidence. They were jailed for 9 days and the family fled to Britain in 1966 when he was 16.

** In 1967, Hain joined the Young Liberals, "The only way to join in Putney was to form a branch, because there wasn't one. Having formed it, I became chairman of it.” He then joined Labour in 1977. The switch has always meant he was distrusted by some in Labour

**  In 1972 his younger sister opened a parcel addressed to him from South Africa. It contained a box with wires attached. Police said later only a wiring maladjustment of a few thousandths of an inch in the firing mechanism had spared their lives.

** Twice he has ended up on trial at the Old Bailey: once, in 1972, on conspiracy charges, and the second four years later on equally dubious but serious bank robbery charges. He was allegedly framed by South African intelligence agents and there were rumours the robbers deliberately used a double. And twice he was found not guilty.

Comments

[Ambercat]

If a burglar gets caught breaking and entering does he get let off simply because he was incompetent? “I am sorry your honour, but my friend who was in charge of disabling the burglar alarm did not notice that extra circuit”. Should you reasonably expect such an excuse to stand up in court? If you think not then you will probably agree that our politicians should not get away with similar excuses.

Read my full thoughts on this matter at ambercat.blogspot.com

[j.sheen]

Good bye to Hain. He trampled on everyone and anything in his way to the top and he nearly made it.but he will meet them all on his way down,and may they all be on the way up. Good riddance to him and may we never see his hard faced countance again

[TrevorH]

Don't right off? you must be joking.

Some obscure lab MP is saying his 'mistake was only accidental. What rubbish, it was not an accident it was not a mistake it was deliberate. He did not want us to know how much he spent and he was embarrassed at giving away names of donors. Without Mr Abrahams he would have probably got away with it.

All of this strikes at the heart of the reason behined the legislation.

Browns daft but self servingly crafy use of incompetence as a noun (presumably trying to imply merly 'failing to meet necessary requirements', but at the same time trying to keep his political distance) was particularly shabby and probably betrays the smug arrogance of his advisers.

Thus is modern Britain governed - if the electorate cannot see the only choice before them then Britain is indeed doomed.