No charges for Hain over donations

Former Northern Ireland secretary Peter Hain will not face criminal charges after an investigation into political donations that led to his resignation earlier this year, British prosecutors said today.

Mr Hain, who was serving as work and pensions secretary prior to his resignation, left his post in January after police launched an inquiry into the funding of his unsuccessful campaign to become deputy leader of the Labour Party.

This is the third investigation into Labour funding in recent years, launched at a time when prime minister Gordon Brown's poll ratings were falling as he tried to cope with a financial crisis.

Mr Brown took office in June 2007 vowing to restore public trust after his predecessor Tony Blair's government was tainted by corruption allegations and police inquiries into party funding.

The Crown Prosecution Service said there was not enough evidence to charge Mr Hain, a former anti-apartheid campaigner and union official who was first elected to parliament in 1991.

Although Mr Hain did not report all donations to the electoral watchdog within the required 30 days, he was not directly responsible for dealing with money given to his campaign team, CPS lawyer Stephen O'Doherty said.

"I have advised the police to take no further action," he added.

In a statement, Mr Hain said he was pleased to have cleared his name over the late declaration of the gift of more than £100,000 pounds.

"I said all along that reporting some of the donations to my 2007 Labour Party deputy leader campaign late was an honest mistake," he said. "Now everyone knows that it was."

Reuters