Peter Hain – Slugger O'Toole

Hain accuses Johnson, Cameron, May of NI ‘neglect’ – and Foster for ‘lapdog’ tendency

Paul Gosling on August 13, 2021, 6:00 am

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Boris Johnson, Theresa May and David Cameron must accept part of the responsibility for the continuing “gridlock” of politics in Northern Ireland, through their failure to engage in the political process here, argues former Labour secretary of state Peter Hain. He also allocates blame to Conservative secretaries of state, with the exception of Julian Smith. Hain says that prime ministers must recognise that their role includes strong engagement with the Northern Ireland parties, in order to keep political progress on track. “You …

Is The Local Cynicism of ‘Question Time’ Fair?

Kris Nixon (Belfast Barman) on January 23, 2016, 7:30 pm

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On Thursday night David Dimbleby and the Question Time Carnival rolled into Titanic Belfast… and it seems the natives expected the worst and received it. To begin with, I’m a big fan of Question Time – I think it’s a great format to engage people nationwide in issues that many people are already talking about, and with the political machinery that exists within *most* parties, they give us, the voters, a good indication of party lines without having to go into …

Peter Hain: “since I was running the place I could more or less do what I wanted to do…”

Pete Baker on June 29, 2014, 5:23 pm

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The former Secretary of State for Northern Ireland [and Wales, etc! – Ed], Peter Hain, has been reminiscing about the good old days… “When I was Secretary of State for Northern Ireland in 2005-07, [Prince Charles] was delighted when I told him that since I was running the place I could more or less do what I wanted to do. “I was able to introduce a trial for complementary medicine on the NHS, and it had spectacularly good results, that …

Jon Snow and Peter Hain appearing on 1 May, the opening day of Cathedral Quarter Arts Festival

Alan Meban (Alan in Belfast) on April 15, 2014, 10:39 pm

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While there’s lots of great stuff going on in the 15th Cathedral Quarter Arts Festival from 1-11 May, there are a couple of political events on the opening day that might interest some Slugger readers. Having heard Jon Snow speak before in Belfast, I can strongly recommend the opening event on Thursday 1 May with the Channel 4 News presenter’s lunchtime talk in The Black Box. £8 including lunch. Six hours later Peter Hain will step onto the stage in …

OTR crisis begins to abate: totally inappropriately

Turgon on March 4, 2014, 9:39 pm

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The crisis has begun to abate, without the direct threat of Stormont collapsing in the immediate future. Despite various claims from the predictable sources in both former government and pliant media circles this was and remains a major scandal and a colossal indictment of the whole political process. The first suggestion at minimising the relevance of these events has been that the suggestion that these letters to suspected terrorists as arranged by Sinn Fein (was the old term Sinn Fein …

Ford accuses Peter Hain of telling “something less than the complete truth…”

Mick Fealty on March 3, 2014, 9:57 am

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David Ford: The system is full of anomalies mostly because the way that the peace process was addressed by the British government making concessions and side deals with whoever was most difficult at the time so that lesser value in our living with those anomalies people like me try to actually get the justice system to work properly today. Mark Carruthers: You can understand how unionists are pretty angry that they can what they perceived the IRA potential people involved …

Hyde Park bombing suspect will not be prosecuted

Turgon on February 25, 2014, 8:49 pm

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The BBC are reporting that John Downey who was arrested and charged with killing four soldiers in the 1982 IRA Hyde Park bombing will not be prosecuted because he was given a guarantee he would not face trial. Downey was arrested in 2013 at Gatwick whilst en route to Greece. From the BBC: ..over the course of legal argument, he asked the Old Bailey to halt the prosecution – saying he had received a clear written assurance from the government …

Peter Hain: “I took some risky decisions to engage with people who were on the fringes…”

Pete Baker on January 13, 2013, 4:56 pm

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The BBC reports more self-aggrandisement disguised as political comment from the erstwhile Secretary of State for Wales, etc, Peter Hain. From the BBC report “In Northern Ireland, I think there is a particular issue with the loyalist community and I do not think the government is doing enough to engage with them,” [Peter Hain] said. “I took some risky decisions to engage with people who were on the fringes and some actually almost in uniform as it were, in paramilitary …

Hain ‘clarifies’ comments in contempt of court case

Pete Baker on May 17, 2012, 1:37 pm

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Sort of… After the bluster from various political and media sources over, the “statutorily independent” NI Attorney General, John Larkin’s decision to charge former Secretary of State for Wales, etc, Peter Hain, MP, and his publisher, with contempt of court over remarks in Mr Hain’s autobiography, the BBC has news from the High Court. Former NI Secretary Peter Hain has written to Attorney General John Larkin clarifying remarks he made about a high court judge in his memoirs. He said it …

NI Attorney General: “Citizens are entitled to have confidence in the administration of justice”

Pete Baker on April 25, 2012, 4:22 pm

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Conveniently, neither the Northern Ireland First or deputy First Ministers, nor either of their juniors, were available to the NI Assembly on Monday to answer Jim Allister’s pointed question on their continued confidence, or otherwise, in the “statutorily independent” NI Attorney General, John Larkin. [As open and transparent as possible! – Ed] There’s been no such reticence from others. The NI Finance Minister, the DUP’s Sammy Wilson, has criticised the cost of the Attorney General’s contempt of court proceedings against the former Secretary of …

The Attorney General of Northern Ireland “accordingly considers it appropriate that the author and publisher of ‘Outside In’ should be punished for contempt of court”

Pete Baker on March 27, 2012, 3:37 pm

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If the former Secretary of State for Northern Ireland [and Wales, etc! – Ed], Peter Hain, MP, thought his recent controversial remarks about Lord Justice Girvan had been forgotten about, he’s had to think again. As a statement from his publisher reveals On 20 March 2012 Lord Justice Higgins granted leave to the Attorney General of Northern Ireland to bring proceedings for contempt of court against Biteback Publishing and Peter Hain. The proceedings relate to a passage in Peter Hain’s memoir, …

Lord Chief Justice: “it is difficult to regard the remarks as anything other than undermining and unhelpful to the administration of justice in Northern Ireland”

Pete Baker on January 26, 2012, 4:53 pm

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Apparently, I haven’t read it, former Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Peter Hain, MP for Neath, devotes two pages of his recently published memoirs to an attack on Lord Justice Girvan. More specifically, an attack on the then Mr Justice Girvan for his 2006 High Court ruling that Peter Hain “acted for an improper motive” when appointing Bertha McDougall Interim Victims Commissioner and was “in breach of the Ministerial Code of Practice” and that the then Secretary of State “approve[d] …

Strange Tale from Wales…

Dewi on April 6, 2011, 1:11 am

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Chris Bryant, MP for the Rhondda, raised this strange business at Westminster. Here’s the BBC report.: (it’s worth watching the video for a Bercow put-down…) Labour and Plaid Cymru are locked in a row about dirty tricks over an assembly election campaign leaflet. The leaflet, which attacks shadow Welsh Secretary Peter Hain, has been posted on the internet. It calls on voters to deny Labour a majority and accuses Mr Hain of plotting behind the back of Welsh Labour leader …

I’m the leader of the Welsh Labour Party….no you ain’t!

Dewi on March 8, 2011, 10:46 pm

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As the euphoria of the referendum result pales so the pre-election rows commence. Your friend and ours, Peter Hain, plays the attack dog (from the BBC). Shadow Welsh Secretary Peter Hain has branded Plaid Cymru leader Ieuan Wyn Jones, Deputy First Minister in the assembly government, “ineffective”. And…Carwyn Jones, first Minister replies: “Those are Peter’s comments. These are not comments that are issued by the government….. Ieuan and I know that over the next few weeks we will have to …

In praise of… Peter Hain

Mick Fealty on March 31, 2007, 3:31 pm

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Frank Millar has a useful end of week wash up on the lead up to this deal. It’s easy to forget that when the so-called “comprehensive agreement” collapsed, just before the Northern Bank robbery, there was little sign of any momentum. For all the moral (and legal) compromises in getting to where we now are, Hain may have played a crucial role in bringing at least one aspect of the Irish question to a close: …it would be disingenuous for …

About that Daily Mail interview…

Mick Fealty on December 14, 2006, 5:28 am

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This article appeared in the Daily Mail last week… It’s an interview with Peter Hain, as you may never have seen him before… with one Petronella Wyatt… (I’d be scared in the unlikely event she asked me for an interview)… Much to the delight of one blogging supporter of one his rivals for the Deputy Prime Minister’s job, he accepted the invitation… Particularly with the Vice Roy comment, you have to wonder if she is a closet Brian Feeney fan…By …