Spin Doctor: Hain has key to managing your finances

Jan 13 2008 Wales On Sunday

PING! Our first press release of the year from Two Jobs Peter Hain’s other department, Work and Pensions, arrives.

Urging people to act now to avoid a potential pensions crisis, Mr Hain says “individuals must take personal responsibility” for organising their finances.

And what better example of taking personal responsibility for financial matters can there be than the exemplary Two Jobs who last week was, er, forced to apologise once again for accidentally forgetting to declare more than £100,000 of donations to his expensive and futile campaign for Labour’s deputy leadership?

“It is no secret that there were organisational and administrative problems within my leadership campaign,” says Mr Hain, so that’s all right then.

CONTINUING on the theme of Two Jobs – as we probably won’t be calling him very soon – it’s good to see he’s managed to wheel out one cheerleader to parrot the official line day after day.

Indeed, since Caerphilly MP Wayne David chose to undo a lifetime’s good work and take part in the abortive coup against Mr Tony, Welsh Labour has been looking for a new Chief Defender of the Indefensible. And now it has one: step forward Islwyn MP Don Touhig.

Mr Touhig seemed to appear on the BBC’s flagship Good Morning Wales every day last week to defend Two Jobs, faithfully repeating the line that his campaign was merely “chaotic”.

He also claimed the allegations were “party-political” (appearing, as they did, in that most Tory of publications – the, er, Guardian). And asked why Progressive Policies Forum, the obscure think-tank much of the donations had come through, appeared never to have printed any publications, he asked: “Does it need to have printed anything?”.

All excellent stuff, and we can only hope he’ll be rewarded by having Mr Hain sit next to him on the backbenches in the coming weeks.

STILL, Two Jobs will probably get away with his somewhat lackadaisical approach to finance if his pursuers adopt the same less-than-rigorous approach as Liberal Democrat MP Malcolm Bruce.

Mr Bruce tabled a written question to Mr Hain’s department demanding to know... “whether it is his department’s policy to use (a) incandescent light bulbs and (b) LED lights for festive decorations on departmental premises”.

Mr Hain replied: “The Wales Office always seeks to use low energy products and currently uses low voltage, clear multi-functional lights for decorations.”

Yes, but who paid for them? Eh? Eh?

BUSY day for Jane Hutt, the Education Minister, last Thursday – she was addressing the annual North of England Education Conference. Which took place in Cardiff.

That’s the North of ENGLAND Education Conference. Held in CARDIFF. Addressed by the WELSH Education Minister. No, us neither.

SNAPPY soundbite of the week: “The centrifugal forces are stronger than the centripetal forces and we’ve got to overcome that” – Rhodri Morgan shows what he’s been learning from Barack Obama’s slogan-driven US election campaign.

AT the beginning of the year, Spin Doctor made a resolution: no more tittle-tattle about Montgomeryshire MP and advocate of bum-touching Lembit Öpik nor his girlfriend, Gabriela Irimia of chart-averse novelty pop act The Cheeky Girls.

Alas! Like that one Marlboro Light we find hiding in a drawer, we are drawn back.

Last Sunday night, Lembit was spotted at London’s O2 Arena, filling his face with noodles prior to seeing the Spice Girls on their reunion tour. What was he doing there?

“I’m here to see the world’s second-best girl band,” smiled Lembit, while we are left wondering whether a Cheeky Girls tour would fill Cwmaman Workingmen’s Institute.