Pointing the finger
On Monday, with an apology in the House of Commons, Peter Hain will hope a chapter that started with "an act of omission which I fully accept was wrong" comes to an end. If it does, it comes to an end with a mauling.
The Commons Standards and Privileges Committee has found him guilty of "serious and substantial failures" in not registering donations of £103,000 to his Labour deputy leadership bid.
Its members point to the scale of that "act of omission" and conclude it caused "justified public concern".
They accept Mr Hain's evidence of his intensive workload, one part of which was, in the Neath MP's own words, "the complex politics (which I had to help manage) of achieving a coalition government with our Party's traditional opponents, Plaid Cymru".
Then they point to the rules and are clear that workload, no matter how tough, is never an excuse for breaking them.
But they're equally clear that "there was no intention to deceive". For that reason and because Mr Hain has already left the cabinet, they are content with an apology. Or to put it another way, had Mr Hain not lost his position in cabinet, they would have been tougher. This is not a report that lets Mr Hain off the hook. It reads like one that makes his return to Cabinet look less likely than he may have been hoping, than his admirers think is fair.
Then read Mr Hain's version of events and you'll see that he too is pointing the finger very, very clearly. His campaign team, his supporters have been doing it for quite some time but now the man himself is pulling no punches.
In a letter to the Parliamentary Commissioner, written late last year, Mr Hain says this:
"Mr Phillip Taylor was initially designated "Campaign Director" during preparations for the campaign but was succeeded by Mr Steve Morgan who replaced him as a signatory to the bank account with effect from 7 April 2007. (Mr Taylor left the campaign at this time due to a personality clash with Mr Morgan.) As signatories to the Account with overall responsiblity for campaign finance and organisation, the successive Campaign Directors undertook the responsibility for receiving donations, banking these and arranging for reporting them [...] I have never been given any explanation as to why the procedure in the campaign which had been previously well established and followed to the letter for five months completely broke down from late May 2007".
And again:
"I have identified, with the benefit of hindsight, two particular factors which I believe were significant in Hain4Labour's administration proving to be unable to ensure timely reports after late May 2007. The first was the unexpected and abrupt departure of Mr. Taylor. I now believe the resulting disruption was significant ... "
In other words Mr Hain is pointing the finger at lobbyist Steve Morgan. He's saying disaster happened not only happened on Mr Morgan's watch; it happened because Mr Morgan was put on the watch at all.
In Mr Hain's version then, where there was order, Steve Morgan brought chaos and not, as Mr Morgan eloquently insisted at the time - and has continued to insist - the other way around.
And after Monday's apology?
Despite suggestions that Downing Street has continued to pick up the phone regularly to their man in Neath, there is no Cabinet reshuffle in sight and the severe criticism in this report will not go away.
So what, goes one suggestion, about a position for Mr Hain - a former Minister for Africa -as a special envoy on behalf of the government? A sign that his experience is valued, that he's back in the fold, if not in government?
I'm Betsan Powys, BBC Wales' political editor. I'll be blogging the inside track on 
© MMX~RS~q~RS~~RS~z~RS~12~RS~)
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ALL TOGETHER NOW...
"Emptiness is a place you're in
With nothing to lose and nothing to win.
The Hain ain't gonna shine anymore
The Hain ain't gonna rise in the sky
The tears are always clouding your eyes
When you're without ...er, any credibility"
~ The Walker Bros (NOT a New Labour think tank or a private equity donor)
THE FUTURE AIN'T ORANGE!
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I can see why you would try to big it up. But as he's out of the government and doesn't look like he's coming back, isn't it water under the bridge?
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Typical politician, blames everyone but himself. That should make him an excellent candidate for high office in McBroon's government.
According to Ms Powys on Wales Today, Mr Hain is 'a very ambitious man'... my, well fancy that, a very insightful observation on the part of BBC Wales' political correspondent, we'd never have guessed it for ourselves.
So Hain also wants to take the credit for the shotgun marriage, between Plaid and Labour at the Assembly. He was too busy attending to that to see to his own affairs. I mean, how could anyone overlook a hundred grand?
Hain must undoubtedly be given the credit for saddling Wales with the worst of both worlds for the foreseeable future... the Government of Wales Act 2006... an unworkable piece of legislation. In fact a travesty, and a huge insult to the people of Wales... something that the Scots and the Irish would have kicked into an unmentionable part of Hain's anatomy, where it would never have seen the light of day, let alone the statute book.
He is the one, with no evidence but his own inflated opinion, that a referendum on legislative powers could not be won. Of course, he knew that he and his selfish Westminster Labour colleagues from Wales, would be bent on wrecking any vote to save their own skins. But Hain couldn't be honest enough to admit that, now could he?
If he had any shred of decency, instead of naked political ambition, he would resign his seat at Neath, and head east because he must rank as one of the worst Secretaries of State Wales has had. Why on earth do we have to put up with these rotten parties which palm us off with foreigners?
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brynt41.
"According to Ms Powys on Wales Today, Mr Hain is 'a very ambitious man'... my, well fancy that, a very insightful observation on the part of BBC Wales' political correspondent, we'd never have guessed it for ourselves."
How rude are you !!??
Don't you understand that our delightful host cannot say things like 'Politician X is a man on the make and on the take and will cut all and any corners in the interests of getting up to the top of the greasy pole in double quick time' without having the Carter-Rucks of this world on her case.
So she is, in her coverage of this and other cases, obliged to use a bit of courteous and tactful subtle diplomacy in her language..
Something you seem quite unable of doing yourself, which is probably why you don't recognise it when you see it - so if you don't like our host's hospitality, perhaps you could sling your hook to someone who is more accommodating ??
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#4 LBG wrote:
"How rude are you!!??"
On a scale of 1 to 10, about 2, I'd say.
I don't think I was being unkind to her, she gets paid for making astute comments, not blindingly obvious ones.
I was being as diplomatic as possible, the BBC wouldn't have published what I really think of PH.
BP doesn't raise my bp, as she obviously does yours.
She has had worse said of her I'm sure, probably deservedly. Try reading some of the comments about Nick Robinson, on his blog, he must have thicker skin that a crocodile, but he does like to suck up to the politicos, which I don't think is true of Ms BP, but then she doesn't deal with the big hitters very often.
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Being a right smart**** I took the 'very ambitious' to be a euphemism for "Orange git"straight away.
L.B.G.
Brynt41 might be a rampant Naionalista, but daft he aint.
Possibly he's more used to the description often given to drunken celebrities/editors/politicians etc., seen staggering out of clubs at 4 in the morning.
"Tired and emotional"
To end this English lesson, here are a few anagrams from the name of the aforementioned "very ambitious man".
PAIN THERE
RIPE NEATH
INERT HEAP
PINE HEART
RIPEN HATE
HEAP NITRE
HEAR INEPT
and a cracker........I REPENT HA !
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#6
Excellent anagrams, well done Noah!
Have you got a program to do that, or your own work?
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Evening Brynt41.
Plagiarism is alive and well in Wales.
http://www.ssynth.co.uk/~gay/anagram.html
Such honesty. . . and from Cardiff !!!!!
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Whilst I don't believe BP shares the same political values as myself, nonetheless, I must say, BP is one of the UK's finest political journalists, widely respected, liked and feared by the most hardened crim/politicians whatever their political allegiance.
Baroness Powys I say or should that be Gold Medal Betsan..... Give her a gong!!!!
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This person was responsible for rushing through the Government of Wales Act in 2006, despite the fact that the specific details were not presented to the people of Wales at the General Election in 2005, and there was, therefore, no consultation. He recognised that the Act could not immediately be implemented in full because the Welsh people were still luke-warm about devolution, but he proceeded anyway, and now we are left with a constitutional crisis.
Anyone who had a greater understanding of our country and its diverse population would have been aware of the inevitable rifts that would result from this kind of meddling. It is to be hoped that he never has this kind of power again.
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