Campaigners call for Hain to drop North appeal

A Government legal challenge over the North's former Victims’ Commissioner should be dropped after Peter Hain’s resignation, campaigners said today.

The British Work and Pensions Secretary was criticised by the High Court in Belfast in 2006 after appointing interim commissioner Bertha McDougall with “improper political purpose” while still at the Northern Office.

His appeal against that finding should be dropped after he today resigned over a police investigation into campaign donations for his Labour Party deputy leadership campaign, Relatives for Justice said.

Spokesman Mark Thompson said: “He is using and abusing a huge amount of taxpayers’ money in taking this appeal and we would call on him to fall on his sword and halt this.

“Hain has called on Sinn Féin to stop wasting taxpayers’ money when they took a challenge to the High Court in London, we would call on him to do the same.”

Former school teacher Mrs McDougall, 59, the widow of a police reservist, was appointed following limited consultation with Ian Paisley’s DUP, failing to demonstrate evidence of cross-community support.

Brenda Downes, from west Belfast, challenged the appointment in 2006, after which review judge Mr Justice Girvan ordered an inquiry into the affair.

Carried out by Peter Scott QC, it found no intention to mislead or obstruct the courts but recorded serious shortcomings in the government’s handling of a Freedom of Information request.

Mr Hain announced his resignation as Welsh and Work and Pensions Secretary today “to clear his name” after the Electoral Commission said it had decided to refer the late declaration of £103,000 (€138,000) of donations to the police.

Mr Thompson added: “Hain was able to mislead the court (in Belfast) and make an illegal appointment (with) the ’lack of candour’ as described by Mr Justice Girvan.

“They can do that and retain public office. The standards applying in Britain must also apply here.”

Mr Hain joined Labour in the late 1970s after leading the campaign against the apartheid regime in South Africa, going on to be one of its longest-serving ministers.

He played a key role, as Northern Secretary, in negotiations to restore the power sharing executive.

However, his bid to replace John Prescott as his party’s deputy leader ended in failure when he came fifth out of six contenders and his campaign was left with huge debts, which it tried to clear by seeking donations from wealthy individuals.

Mr Hain declared 17 of these donations – totalling £103,000 – more than four months after the contest ended, placing him in potential breach of electoral law.

A spokeswoman for the NIO said: “The appeal has already taken place, we are awaiting the judgment, nothing has changed.”