• home • about • twitter • archives • subscribe • email •

Peter Hain has apologised for “the embarrassment caused by poor administration” but insisted that he wants to get on with his cabinet jobs.

Well somebody had so say it sooner or later. Iraq, MRSA, rampant anti-terror legislation, unaccountable government, myriad computer system cock-ups, the demonisation of refugees and all the rest – it’s about time we had an apology. What’s that? He’s only apologising for his cock-eyed deputy leadership bid? That’s a shame.

So what the hell did Hain spend it all on? Two hundred grand to be beaten in a popularity contest by Harriet bloody Harman? If I was him, I wouldn’t be wondering if it was worth carrying on in politics, I’d be pondering whether it was worth carrying on living.

Hain has spoken in the past of his ‘political journey’. That’s a euphemism for changing from a person who was once vociferously against the terror of the state into a person who is vociferously for the terror of the state. That he should stray so far from his roots that he could be this blase about hundreds of thousands pounds, where they came from and where they went, shows that his journey is reaching its destination.

It would take the vast majority of people decades to earn these sums. Hain threw about more cash in order to polish his ego than a lot of people’s houses are worth. He thought two hundred grand was a price worth paying to get people to like him a bit more than they did Hazel Blears. How hard can that be for God’s sake? When you look at the breakdown of the deputy leadership vote, you’d bet Gary Glitter could have beaten Blears with no grander inducements offered than a couple of rounds of drinks and a bag of crisps.

But don’t worry. The next time you’re in a spot of bother paying the mortgage or trying to explain the overdraft to the bank manager, just say that you’re embarrassed but it’s all down to your ‘poor administration’. I’m sure they’ll be sympathetic. If not write to Peter and ask if he can back you up.

Update: Matthew Norman:

More poignantly, he will long be recalled as a poster boy for a political age in which remembering the beliefs that drove people into politics in the first place became an unaffordable inconvenience.

Update updated: Amen.