Downing Street Says » Peter Hain

Asked if the Prime Minister believed that Peter Hain was incompetent or guilty of an incompetence, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister said that it was a mistake that was made, an incompetence that Peter Hain had readily admitted to. He had admitted that mistakes had been made, and this was clearly a reference to mistakes that were made in his campaign and in the management and organisation of his campaign. Elsewhere in his ITN interview and in the Sun interview at the weekend, the Prime Minister has praised the work Peter Hain was doing as a reforming Secretary of State for Work and Pensions.

Asked if this meant the Prime Minister did not believe that Peter Hain was incompetent, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister said that this was an incompetence, clearly referring to the management and organisation of his campaign. That had nothing to do with his responsibilities as Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, where as the Prime Minister said in the Sun, Peter Hain was doing a great job.

Put that no matter how it was phrased, the Prime Minister was accusing Peter Hain of taking his eye off the ball and of incompetence, and asked if he was not concerned that those failings might translate into his duties as Secretary of State, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister said in his ITN interview "I think he took his eye off the ball because he is concentrating on his work at Work and Pensions". The Prime Minister had made clear that in relation to his role as Secretary of State for Work and Pensions and Secretary of State for Wales, Peter Hain was doing a good job.

Put that there seemed to be some dispute as to whether this was discussed at Cabinet yesterday, the PMS replied that it was not discussed, but when Peter Hain intervened elsewhere in Cabinet, he apologised for the kerfuffle and said that this was an issue that was affecting all parties.

Asked if "a kerfuffle" was Peter Hain’s description of this issue, the PMS replied that he was not quoting him directly. He had not meant to use the word kerfuffle in a flippant way. Clearly this had become an issue and the fact that it had become an issue was why Peter Hain had said sorry. But he did make the general point that this was an issue that affected all parties.

Put that Lobby was told yesterday that the issue did not come up in Cabinet, the PMS replied that there was no discussion of party funding, it was more of an aside as he was talking about something else. Asked what he was talking about, the PMS replied that this was in the context of a wider discussion about opportunity.

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» Tuesday, January 16, 2007

Peter Hain

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