So Peter Hain, former work and pensions secretary, is in the clear over late reporting of donations to his campaign to become deputy leader of the Labour party.
Here is the original story from January about Mr Hain’s resignation. He quit – to clear his name – just days after it emerged that the donations were late (and that more than £50,000 came via a mysterious think tank called the Progressive Policies Forum).
In a nutshell, the CPS concluded that Mr Hain was not the person responsible for recording donations. And it wasn’t clear who should have done so. Therefore no case.
Hain said this morning: “I said all along that reporting some of the donations to my 2007 Labour Party deputy leader campaign late was an honest mistake…Now everyone knows that it was.”
But the Electoral Commission wants to tighten up the rules from now on. Here is their statement:
“The CPS has said today that regulated donations were not reported to the Commission on time. However, they have said that Mr Hain was not the person responsible for reporting the donations, and that it is not possible to prove that anyone else involved with his campaign was responsible.
“The Electoral Commission wants to ensure that there is certainty about where responsibility for reporting donations lies in such circumstances. We will therefore be reviewing the implication of the CPS’s decision carefully and considering what steps will be needed to achieve this certainty, including possible changes to the law. “
Jim Pickard
Kiran Stacey
