Peter in the Papers

In this section you can read articles that Peter has given interviews for or have been written about Peter.

Cuts absolute disaster for Northern Ireland's shared future: Peter Hain

Belfast Telegraph, 7 August

Former Secretary of State Peter Hain has warned that public spending cutbacks will be an “absolute disaster” for Northern Ireland — with potential dangers for the peace process.

Mr Hain's comments come in a week that has seen top economists warn that the province is going to suffer disproportionately from the funding squeeze.

The former Labour Cabinet member told this newspaper: “The cuts are a disaster for Britain but an absolute one for Northern Ireland, as I know only too well from my time as Secretary of State.

“Just when stability is vital to build a new shared future, the savagery of the Conservative/Liberal cuts will cause business bankruptcies because so many more are dependant upon public investment than elsewhere in the UK.

“So lasting damage will be done to the private sector and not simply to essential public sector jobs and services.”

Mr Hain added: “Also, when it is so important to have job opportunities for young people in republican communities who may otherwise be drawn into dangerous dissident IRA activity, the cuts will crush many hopes.

“The tragedy is the manic scale of these cuts is unnecessary. The deficit could have been adequately reduced by a combination of spending restraint and investment in growth. “The Government's programme is driven by right wing ideology that failed in the 1930s but is sadly being repeated.”

To read the full article visit http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/local-national/northern-ireland/cuts-absolute-disaster-for-northern-irelands-shared-future-peter-hain-14900709.html#ixzz0wPJU5KIR

Cameron says no Assembly referendum until next year

Western Mail, 26th May 2010

DAVID CAMERON yesterday triggered a row with the Assembly Government by announcing that a referendum on more powers for the National Assembly will not take place this year.

Shadow Welsh Secretary Peter Hain said: “This Queen’s Speech is a real kick in the teeth to Wales. The promised review of funding for Wales has been kicked into the long grass, even though Calman’s proposals for Scotland will be implemented – meaning Wales will lose out on its fair share of money, while still having to make deep and savage cuts. Wales has become the Great Ignored Nation under this new Government.”

Mr Hain also attacked a plan that could see the number of Welsh constituencies reduced from 40 to 28.

He said: “Reducing the number of Welsh constituencies will greatly reduce Wales’ voice in Westminster. The ConDem gov ernment is not only trying to gerrymander votes in Parliament with a new 55% bar in no confidence votes, but also trying to gerrymander constituency boundaries in their favour.

“Their plans will mean already large Mid Wales constituencies of Ceredigion, Dwyfor Meirionnydd, Brecon and Radnorshire and Montgomeryshire will become even bigger, making it hard for voters to hold their MPs accountable, and for MPs to get around their constituencies.

“There will be a damaging knock-on to the Assembly by reducing constituency Assembly members who are linked to numbers of MPs in the same constituencies and reducing the size of the Assembly.

“This Queen’s Speech is further proof that the Tories and Liberal Democrats aren’t governing in the interests of the whole of Britain, rather they are punishing Wales for rejecting them at the ballot box.”

To read the full article visit http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/welsh-politics/welsh-politics-news/2010/05/26/cameron-says-no-assembly-referendum-until-next-year-91466-26522294/2/

Peter Hain says poll on more devolution is possible

BBC Wales News, 21 May 2010

Former Welsh Secretary Peter Hain has insisted the work he carried out on further devolution would have allowed a referendum to take place in the autumn.

Mr Hain was responding to criticism from his successor Cheryl Gillan about what she called a lack of preparatory work.

He said all the work that could have been carried out before the general election was completed.

Mr Hain hit back saying Mrs Gillan "seems rather out of her depth".

Mrs Gillan is expected to meet the Electoral Commission next week.

The commission said a 10-week period was needed to ensure the referendum question could be easily understood by voters but that would rule out an autumn poll.

New Welsh Secretary Mrs Gillan has said she is keeping an open mind about whether an October referendum on further devolution in Wales is achievable.

A request for a referendum in the autumn has been made to Mrs Gillan in a letter by First Minister Carwyn Jones.

Mr Hain said that all the work relating to further devolution that could have been carried out before the general election on 6 May was completed.

He said: "I feel a bit sorry for Cheryl Gillan, she seems rather out of her depth I'm afraid and [is] making all sorts of assertions and striking party points here.

"The Electoral Commission was first met by my officials back in December. We started the preparatory work immediately [when] the first minister wrote to me in February.

"We had only a matter of weeks to go before the general election was triggered and, frankly, the idea that the Electoral Commision could have started a formal consultation, a public consultation, the first such under this new legislation of any referendum anywhere in Britain during a general election period, is nonsense.

"But the preparatory work was done."

He called on Mrs Gillan to show her support for the first minister in getting a yes vote and not sit on the fence.

But legislation needs to be passed by parliament before the summer recess to facilitate such a vote.

The first minister provided a suggested referendum question to the Welsh Secretary in his letter.

Mr Hain said the first minister had called Mrs Gillan's bluff by producing a potential question.

The row between the former and current Welsh Secretary flared last week when Mrs Gillan said she found key elements of the preparations for a referendum as "unfinished business" on her desk on taking office.

But in an interview with BBC Wales' Dragon's Eye programme she stressed she was keeping an open mind at this stage as to whether an autumn poll was still possible.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/8696336.stm

MP Peter Hain backs Ed Miliband for new Labour leader

Western Mail, 17 May 2010

FORMER Welsh Secretary Peter Hain has endorsed Ed Miliband as the best man to lead the Labour party.

The ex-Climate Change Secretary is running against his brother David – the former Foreign Secretary – in the race to take Labour’s reins.

Neath MP Mr Hain said the battles between supporters of Gordon Brown and Tony Blair must be left in the past and the party had to “rediscover its soul”.

Convinced that Mr Miliband, 40, was the right person for such a challenge, he said: “Ed offers the fresh start Labour needs. He is a dynamic leader for the 21st century who will help us renew, learn the lessons from our defeat, and energise our party so that we are connected to and active in our communities.

“To win, Labour must consign Blairite/Brownite factionalism to the dustbin, and Ed Miliband is best able to do that. He has shown that he can be the bridge to unite the party behind a future vision of social justice, equal opportunities, redistribution of power and green policies.

“This is a new era for our country, but also our party. Simply regurgitating 1990s New Labour mantras will fail, as will lurching back to 1980s Old Labour dogma.

“Under Ed’s leadership, Labour can rediscover its soul and its ability to inspire modern Britain again, as we fight to win the next election.”

To read the full article visit http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/2010/05/17/mp-peter-hain-backs-ed-miliband-for-new-labour-leader-91466-26459732/

Hain Urges Give Up PM's Right To Set Election Date

Independent, 23 March 2010

The plan was revealed in an interview with The Independent by Peter Hain, the Welsh Secretary, who said: "Labour being prepared to deliver fixed-term parliaments as part of a negotiation to sustain a government in power is attractive, whether we have a majority or are just short of a majority." He said a four-year deal with the Liberal Democrats would provide stability and calm the financial markets, which are worried that painful decisions on public spending cuts would be put off if a second election were in prospect.

"What the country needs is some certainty in the aftermath of the banking crisis to secure recovery. A fixed term would also give the markets the stability and certainty they crave," he said.

Mr Hain said the plan would reassure the Liberal Democrats that "there would not be some immediate crisis or tactical pulling of the rug [to call another election] for party advantage".

Fixed-term parliaments would be part of a Labour drive to "transform the political landscape" which would appeal to "mainstream majority voters". Other elements included a fully-elected House of Lords and bringing in the alternative vote for Westminster elections, under which people rank candidates in order of preference so that the eventual winner enjoys majority support.

"Whatever the [election] result, this kind of politics has got to be the politics of the next Parliament. The current Parliament has been so badly discredited – not just because of MPs' expenses. The bottom has fallen out of trust in politics. Labour's radical democratic reforms are particularly appealing to Liberal Democrat supporters. The Tories will never offer them electoral reform," he said.

To read the full article visit www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/brown-to-give-up-pms-right-to-set-election-date-1925397.html/

Peter Hain joins call for ‘Robin Hood’ tax

Western Mail, 17 February 2010

HUGE profits posted by banking giant Barclays underline the need for a “Robin Hood” tax on financial transactions, Welsh Secretary Peter Hain said yesterday.

Mr Hain is the first Cabinet member to back the high-profile campaign for a tax on the trade in foreign exchange, stocks, bonds and their derivatives.

“It would be a tiny tax that, frankly, would hardly be noticed by the financial system, but bring in huge rewards to tackle the problems of the world,” said Mr Hain.

The campaign – fronted by actor Bill Nighy and backed by numerous charities – calls for a 0.05% tax on trading, which would raise an estimated £250bn a year.

Mr Hain said: “A lot of people in Wales, a lot of groups have said to me ‘this is a fair thing to do’, and I am persuaded by it. “Barclays’ profits and gigantic bank bonuses just symbolise why it’s important to levy a tax on transactions.

“The world was in a position where speculation and risk-taking spread, and financiers and bonus-seekers drove the whole system off the edge of the precipice.”

To read the full article visit www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/2010/02/17/hain-joins-band-of-supporters-in-call-for-robin-hood-tax-91466-25849564/

Hain predicts Tory support will drain away

Financial Times, 1 February 2010

Opinion polls are understating voters’ support for Labour because it is seen as “not cool” to support the party of government, according to Peter Hain.

The Welsh secretary said that Labour could still win the general election in spite of polls showing the Tories with a lead of up to 10 points.

Claiming that ministers were now united behind Gordon Brown after the failed coup this month – “it’s lanced a boil” – he predicted that support would drain away from the Conservatives as their policies were held up to closer scrutiny.

“My view is that this election is more like that of 1992 than any other election,” he said.

“I remember very well that up to 1992 we were the frontrunners, John Major was a bit of a laughing stock, there was a sense that the Tories were destined to lose – and actually what happened on the day was that people misled the opinion pollsters as they came out.”

Instead of a victory for Neil Kinnock’s Labour party in April 1992, Mr Major won with a small majority.

This time round many voters were likely to go into polling stations believing they were “fed up” with Labour but still vote for the party because of their “fear” of the Tories, the cabinet minister claimed. “I think it will be about fear of the Tories in the way that there was fear of Labour in 1992.”

To read the full article visit http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/82fc01dc-0ea4-11df-bd79-00144feabdc0.html?nclick_check=1