SAOIRSE32

Belfast Telegraph

Police to probe donations to former Ulster Secretary

Thursday, January 24, 2008

Northern Ireland’s former Secretary of State, Peter Hain, has resigned from the Cabinet as police began a probe into £103,000 in donations to his deputy leadership campaign.

The Work and Pensions Secretary and Secretary of State for Wales said he had taken the move to “clear my name” after the Electoral Commission, investigating whether he had broken electoral law, referred the matter to police before lunchtime.

Mr Hain telephoned Prime Minister Gordon Brown at 11.30am after being informed by the Electoral Commission that it was referring the case to the Metropolitan Police.

It is understood Mr Hain offered his resignation at that point “without hesitation” and it was swiftly accepted by Mr Brown.

Minutes later the commission publicly announced it was referring the case involving his campaign cash to the police. Mr Hain confirmed his resignation in a statement.

Mr Hain said: “In view of the Electoral Commission decision today, I will be resigning to clear my name and I will be making a statement shortly.”

Downing Street said: “Peter Hain has made his statement. The Prime Minister has accepted Peter Hain’s resignation. There will be an exchange of letters in due course.”

The Electoral Commission said: “On November 29, 2007, Peter Hain MP informed the Electoral Commission that he had not fully reported to the commission donations he had received for his Labour Party deputy leadership campaign.

“Mr Hain has since met with the commission and provided additional information about donations he received. The Electoral Commission has undertaken a thorough review of this information.

“Following discussions with the Metropolitan Police Service and the Crown Prosecution Service, the Electoral Commission has now referred matters to the Metropolitan Police for them to consider whether an investigation should commence.”

The Met confirmed it had launched an investigation.

“We can confirm that the Met has today received a formal referral from the Electoral Commission in connection with potential offences under the Political Parties and Referendums Act 2000 regarding donations received,” a spokeswoman said.

“An investigation will now begin by detectives from the Specialist and Economic Crime Command.”

Mr Hain quit amid news of the latest police investigation involving Labour and donations.

Police are already probing proxy donations to Labour of more than £600,000 from north east property developer David Abrahams, which Mr Brown has said were “unlawful” and not properly declared.

That case has already claimed the resignation of Labour’s general secretary, Peter Watts.

Mr Brown had fought to keep Mr Hain, declaring him to be a “great” minister doing a “good job” on welfare reform.

But as the affair dragged on, support ebbed away.

Confirmation of the police probe was the final straw.

Shadow work secretary Chris Grayling said: “Peter Hain’s resignation was inevitable and the right thing to do.”

BBC
24 Jan 2008

Fenian, hun, taig and jaffa are among the terms outlawed for police officers in a pamphlet which outlines to them how to avoid causing offence.

The Guide to Appropriate Language has various categories of words and suggests acceptable alternatives.

Religion, minority ethnic communities, gay people, women and transsexuals are among the linguistic issues covered.

Chief Constable Sir Hugh Orde says in his foreword that using the right language “sends an important message”.

“It is essential that we take a lead in using language that does not exclude colleagues or members of the community, does not stereotype and always shows a wholehearted commitment to supporting our Equal Opportunities Policy,” said Sir Hugh.

Catholics should not be called fenians, taigs, chucks or spongers, while Protestants should not be referred to as huns, black, prods or jaffas, the booklet says.

‘It is intended to help avoid the unintentional offence caused by unthinking use of language and to improve relationships between officers, staff and across the whole community.’
–PSNI Guide to Appropriate Language

There is one exception to the use of fenian, but it is probably rarely used.

“It may be perfectly acceptable to use it in an appropriate historical context, for example, if referring to the Fenian Brotherhood,” it says.

Officers are advised that if a witness uses language which is not politically correct, they should use speech marks to attribute this when taking a statement.

Terms which could be used by Life on Mars’ 1970s old-school cop DCI Gene Hunt are also banned when referring to the gay community.

When it comes to older members of the population, police should not call them geriatric, old codgers or say someone is “just like an aul’ woman”.

“Old can carry connotations of being worn-out and of little further use. It can also be used as a term of abuse,” says the booklet.

The booklet is “intended to help avoid the unintentional offence caused by unthinking use of language and to improve relationships between officers, staff and across the whole community”.