When Peter Hain is eventually reshuffled away or forced out of office he can just continue his career in advertising making those celebrity endorsements; “St Tropez, for a perma-tan, will last longer than my career…”

Here is a fourth corporate endorsement, he praised a firm as a “modern, dynamic company” which he wanted to see go “from strength to strength” in the run up to their stock market floatation. It is handy for a Cardiff based spin firm doing government relations if the Welsh Secretary himself gives you a boost despite the obvious conflict of interest. Very reassuring to potential investors…

Freshwater UK plc, which even more handily also got a £1m investment from the Welsh Assembly Government development arm, had coincidentally paid £10,000 for a table at a Labour fundraiser four days prior that ringing endorsement. Peter Hain was seated at the Freshwater table at the event, which was also attended by John Underwood, Freshwater’s business development director and Hain’s campaign treasurer. It was Underwood who set up the faux think tank as well to channel money to Hain4Labour. Yet another amazing coincidence in the Hain saga…

The London Evening Standard has been trying to get hold of Hain4Labour’s campaign manager, the increasingly elusive Morgan the Organ. Morgan Allen Moore’s vice-chairman Richard Moore told the Standard that the fake think tank matter sharing a registered office with them was “purely coincidental”. “The only connection between Morgan Allen Moore and the Progressive Policies Forum is that we have the same registered address with a firm of London solicitors.”

Too many coincidences to be believable.

The Spin Industry’s self regulatory body, the APPC, describes itself “as the representative and regulatory body for UK public affairs professionals in the consultancy sector.” It was set up in the wake of brown-envelope lobbyist scandals by some of the more respectable lobbying firms to try and prevent the most egregious happenings that are endemic to a murky industry.

Guido has learnt that the APPC has received a complaint from James Davenport, a former employee of Morgan Allen Moore, concerning ten separate breaches of the APPC Code of Conduct by Steve Morgan, Hain’s campaign manager. The book is well and truly being thrown at “Morgan the Organ”…

“TORIES AIM TO DESTROY FINAL SALARY PENSION SCHEMES“

The press release includes the line “don’t ever vote Tory”. Guido is no expert, but he suspects that may breach the code’s requirement that “They should act in a way which upholds the political impartiality of civil servants”.

The Taxpayers Alliance keeps a hawkish eye on government waste and has made an official complaint to Sir Leigh Lewis, Permanent Secretary of the Department of Work and Pensions about the behaviour of his department’s SpAds campaigning on the public payroll for the Labour Party. Are the DWP SpAds going to blame it like their boss does on incompetence or amnesia?

Hat-tip : Taxpayers Alliance

Peter Hain is getting a lot of cheering from Labour MPs during an unusually well attended session of Welsh questions this morning. Labour backbenchers have clearly decided, perhaps with encouragement from the whips, to prop up the Welsh Secretary. They are cheering him, as Guido writes, for “bringing the Ryder Cup to Wales”.

No opposition MP had the wit to question the conflict of interest and propriety of Hain receiving a £1,500 donation to his campaign from PGA Ryder Cup PR firm TM Communications. More here…

Dizzy makes a splendidly straightforward suggestion, why don’t politicians have one bank account for donations? They then record each transaction’s source on a register. Guido would also suggest that benefits-in-kind went on the same register. Both the account and register records would be made publicly available online.

If a politician failed to report an item within 30 days they would get a fixed fine of £100. If they failed to report an item after 60 days a £1,000 fine. If they fail to report an item after 90 days a mandatory one month suspension from the house – unpaid.

Party and constituency reporting would continue as now. To accept donations any other way would be a criminal offence. Simple enough even for the most incompetent politician…

The biggest rat on the Hain gravy boat is deserting the sinking ship. “My work ended the day the election for deputy leader took place [June 24]. Aside from personally donating £5,000 to the thinktank [sic] I have not been involved in fundraising for the thinktank.”

As an experienced spin merchant he is executing a PR technique known as CYA – Cover Your Arse…

UPDATE : Ian Gibson MP, not Morgan told the Guardian that he is “revolted” that the PPF appeared to have been established solely to channel funds to Hain’s campaign. The Guardian “article was amended on Tuesday January 15 2008. We conflated quotes from Ian Gibson and Steve Morgan in error. This has been corrected.” So Guido has amended this posting and deleted comments based on a reading of the article.

People forget that Hain already has a criminal conviction for conspiracy. It was this experience that presumably provided the basis for his 1984 book, Political Trials in Britain (still available on Amazon.)

During his conspiracy trial Hain elected not to give evidence, Lord Justice Roskill finding him guilty emphasised “He gave no explanation of his part over the incidents with which he was charged.”

In another legal case, Donna Easter, a 32 year-old single mother of two who worked in Mr Hain’s constituency office in Neath, took him to an industrial tribunal – she allegedly was paid £35 for supposedly a 15-hour week. There were allegations floating around at the time that she was also paid from petty cash to allow her to continue claiming benefits. Hain was not at the hearing in Cardiff, despite his desk at the Welsh Office being only 300 yards way.

Rachel Davies, the tribunal chairwoman, said: “It is unfortunate that Mr Hain is not present today to put his side of the case”. The tribunal found unanimously in her favour and she was awarded compensation of £2,746 and £299 holiday pay. Similarly today Hain once again stays silent when he is in the shit, as speculation grows that the police will be called in…

The two PR firms involved in donations to Hain’s campaign had something very interesting happen when Hain’s donor troubles hit the headlines. As you can see from the above screenshots, things started disappearing. Counter-productively for them this intrigued Guido. Morgan Allen Moore’s client list disappeared and T M Communications entire website went offline – which is strange for experts in “technology and communications”.

So Guido started digging around for their client lists. That is how the coincidence between Steve Morgan’s client Tesco and Hain’s “Every Little Helps” endorsement was uncovered.

TM Communications are not registered lobbyists with the APPC so their client list wasn’t on the register. It took some investigative digging to find a client list already in the public domain from their now deleted website. Their clients include Newport Networks, The Professional Golfers Association, and investment group Wesley Clover.

Newport Networks was set-up by Welsh billionaire Sir Terry Matthews, who is also the chairman of Wesley Clover and his Celtic Manor Golf Resort will be hosting the PGA Ryder Cup in 2010.

TM Communications say that their £1,500 donation to Hain’s campaign was made by them “on behalf of the directors and shareholders”. Not Sir Terry, he “doesn’t do politics”.