Complaint over Hain donation

Last Modified: 11 Jan 2008
By: Cathy Newman, Krishnan Guru-Murthy

The pressure on Peter Hain intensified today after an official complaint was made to the Westminster "sleaze" watchdog.

The complaint against Mr Hain was made by the Tory backbench MP for Monmouth, David Davies, the MP's office said.

It follows Mr Hain's admission yesterday that he failed to declare more than £100,000 in donations to his Labour Party deputy leadership campaign.

In his statement, Mr Hain said that it became necessary to raise more cash after the deputy leadership contest finished in June because "unpaid invoices" emerged during the summer and autumn.

However, he learnt on November 29 last year that these donations had not been declared within the required timescale, and "immediately" informed the Electoral Commission.

The commission has since been kept in touch with progress on establishing which donations were not registered, he said.

Donations

So just how much did Peter Hain's campaign accept, and how much did he declare?

Undeclared - £103,156.75
PPF donations - £26,613.75
Isaac Kaye - £14,623.75
Willy Nagel - £5,000
Willy Nagel - £25,000 interest-free loan

Total - £185,156.75

Mr Hain's admitted to the Electoral Commission that he failed to declare just over £103,000 within the required time limit.

That includes a total of more than £26,000 donated through the think tank the Progressive Policies Forum

That money originating from people like the former pharmaceuticals boss Isaac Kaye, who gave more than £14,000. And diamond broker Willy Nagel - who donated £5,000 pounds.

Mr Nagel also provided - again through the PPF - an interest-free loan of £25,000 pounds.

It all means that Mr Hain spent a huge total of more than 185,000 on a campaign in which he finished a distant fifth.

Mr Hain is insisting it was nothing more than an oversight, here's what he told the Guardian newspaper.

"I am not providing any excuses, just explanations. There were serious organisational and administrative problems in the campaign.

This whole period spanned a hugely demanding time as Secretary of State for Northern Ireland negotiating the final settlement, playing a leading role in the Welsh Assembly elections... and taking over a new department at Work and Pensions."