The
Commissioner's findings
5. Mr Hain registered ten donations he received
to his campaign in the period to May 2007 within the four-week
deadline for registering such donations; these came to £77,000.
He registered two further donations late, in November and December
2007, with a combined value of £10,000. He registered 17
further donations late in January 2008, the oldest of them dating
back to April 2007 and the most recent to November. The donations
registered in January 2008 totalled more than £103,000.[2]
6. The Commissioner has accepted Mr Hain's assessment
that a change of personnel in his campaign team was an important
factor in his failure to register donations to the campaign between
May and November 2007 (the campaign ended on 24 June). Another
important factor was the disbandment of the campaign team while
donations were still coming in, and before the large debts that
were incurred during the campaign had come to light. A further
important factor was Mr Hain's failure to identify any continuing
need for registration after it ceased in May 2007, until prompted
to do so by one of his donors in November.
7. At the time of the Labour leadership and deputy
leadership elections, Mr Hain was Secretary of State for Northern
Ireland and Secretary of State for Wales. Immediately after the
elections, Mr Hain was made Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
and Secretary of State for Wales. The Commissioner notes the pressures
on Mr Hain as a senior member of the Government and that Mr Hain
has accepted that he bore overall responsibility for ensuring
that donations to his deputy leadership campaign were properly
registered.[3]
8. The Commissioner has upheld the complaints
that Mr Hain failed to register in time all the donations he received
for his campaign for election as Deputy Leader of the Labour Party.[4]
He has accepted Mr Hain's assurances that all the donations he
received had been registered by 11 January 2008.[5]
He has also accepted that, once Mr Hain identified the oversight,
he acted quickly and openly to address it, and that Mr Hain has
both accepted responsibility for and rectified his errors. Finally,
the Commissioner notes that Mr Hain apologised at the first opportunity.
9. However, the Commissioner also concludes that
Mr Hain's breach of the rules "was both serious and substantial."[6]
Conclusion
10. This is a case of an experienced Member,
a Cabinet Minister at the time, failing in his duty as a Member
of Parliament to register donations within the time required by
the House. We understand that the pressures on Ministers and on
front-benchers can be onerous, but we cannot accept—and
we are sure that none of them would suggest—that this excuses
them from their obligations under the rules of the House.
11. In his brief but thorough memorandum,
the Commissioner has reported the outcome of his inquiries involving
19 cases of late registration of donations, totalling over £100,000.
We agree with the Commissioner that Mr Hain's failure to register
donations on this scale is both serious and substantial. We are
bound to take this into account, notwithstanding the facts that
Mr Hain has apologised unreservedly, and that he acted with commendable
speed to rectify his omissions once he discovered them, without
waiting for others to invite him to do so. Because of the seriousness
and scale of this breach and noting the considerable, justified
public concern that it has created, we would ordinarily have been
minded to propose a heavier penalty. However, we accept that there
was no intention to deceive and Mr Hain has already paid a high
price for his omissions. We therefore recommend that Mr Hain apologise
by means of a personal statement on the floor of the House.
1 Conduct of Mr Peter Hain, HC 324 Back
2
Appendix 1, para 45 Back
3
Appendix 1, para 59 Back
4
Appendix 1, para 55 Back
5
Appendix 1, para 59 Back
6
Appendix 1, para 59 Back
