Mersey man to lead up Government's culture department

Jan 25 2008 by Rob Merrick, Liverpool Daily Post

PETER HAIN’S resignation from the Cabinet left Gordon Brown facing a second damaging police investigation into alleged Labour “sleaze” scandals last night.

The Prime Minister was also forced to relaunch his government – just seven months after entering No.10 – by carrying out a snap reshuffle of his top ministers.

Mr Brown was immediately accused of dithering by allowing Mr Hain, who quit after undeclared donations of £103,000 were referred to Scotland Yard, to remain in office for so long.

And the Liberal Democrats warned his government was dogged by “political sleaze”, on top of incompetence and economic turmoil.

Mr Hain, the Work and Pensions Secretary, had clung to office for weeks, amid mounting criticism of his failure to properly declare the huge donations to his deputy leadership campaign.

But his fate was sealed when the Electoral Commission, instead of delivering a slap on the wrist as many had predicted, announced it was calling in the Metropolitan Police.

Almost immediately, at 11.30am, Mr Hain rang the Prime Minister and his resignation was accepted without hesitation.

The watchdog is thought to have been angered by Mr Hain’s defence he had inadvertently breached the rules because he was a busy Cabinet minister.

His career as a frontline politician almost certainly over, the 57-year-old former anti-apartheid campaigner is now facing the nightmare of a possible court appearance.

In a statement, Mr Hain said he had “no alternative” but to quit, but insisted he was doing so to “clear his name”.

He added: “I severely and seriously regret the mistake in declaring donations late, and I have co-operated as soon as I was able to with the Electoral Commission, providing all the details they have asked for.

“I will, of course, co-operate in the future with the police and with any other authorities that wish to ask questions about this.”

In his resignation letter to the Prime Minister, Mr Hain wrote: “I made a mistake, but it was an innocent mistake.”

Mr Brown moved swiftly to reshuffle his Cabinet, switching James Purnell from the Culture brief to Work and Pensions, to be replaced by Andy Burnham, the Chief Secretary to the Treasury and originally from Newton-le-Willows.

Arriving at his new offices in central London, Mr Burnham said: “This is my dream job and it is a fantastic time to take it on with the thriving cultural and arts sector in the country, preparations for the Olympic Games well under way and of course my family’s home city (Liverpool) this year is crowned as European City of Culture.

“Anybody who knows me knows that I will put my heart and soul into this job.

“I would like to pay full tribute to my good friend James Purnell who has made a real impact here and I will be very much picking up where James left off.”

Mr Burnham, who was previously Chief Secretary to the Treasury, joked he was grateful to have given Mr Purnell, who held the job as Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport before him, a good settlement in the recent spending review.

He added: “I would like to pay tribute to another good friend, Peter Hain, who has made an outstanding contribution to the Labour Party and to this Government over many years.”

The 38-year-old father of three emphasised the importance of the London Olympic Games in 2012.

He said: “Britain in the spotlight with the world’s gaze upon it brings massive opportunities, not just to please the Treasury on a financial footing, but to everybody in terms of getting the whole country out there participating in sport.”

The MP for Leigh, Greater Manchester, was brought up in Liverpool.

He describes himself as an avid Everton supporter as well as a supporter of Leigh Centurions Rugby League Club.

This is his second stint at the department, having worked as special advisor to Chris Smith in 1998.

Before being appointed to the Treasury in June 2007 he was serving as Minister of State for Delivery and Reform at the Department of Health.

Between 2005 and 2006 he was Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Immigration, Citizenship and Nationality at the Home Office.

He was educated in Merseyside and gained an MA in English at Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge.

The Chief Secretary’s post will be filled by housing minister Yvette Cooper, creating the first husband-and-wife team in the Cabinet. She is married to Children’s Secretary, Ed Balls. Mr Hain’s other Cabinet job, as Welsh Secretary, is taken by Paul Murphy, a remarkable return to the post after a break of nearly six years.

But the reshuffle failed to deflect criticism from Mr Brown, with Tory leader David Cameron insisting: “The Prime Minister should not have allowed this to go on for so long.”

The Lib-Dems went further, Danny Alexander, the party’s work and pensions spokesman, saying: “The transition from Blair to Brown feels increasingly like the transition from Thatcher to Major. We all remember John Major clinging on to ministerial colleagues, only to lose them in the end – and now Gordon Brown is doing the same.”

In November, Mr Hain revealed he had declared 17 donations, totalling £103,000, more than four months after the deputy leadership contest ended, in clear breach of electoral law.

The most damning revelation was that some of his gifts were channelled through a think tank which had done no research. It appeared to exist only as a conduit for the cash.

The campaign is reported to have left Mr Hain with debts of more than £40,000, which he may yet have to pay from his own pocket.