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Miliband pays tribute to “exceptional colleague and trusted friend” Peter Hain

May 14, 2012 11:39 am

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After Peter Hain confirmed he’s stepping down from the front bench, Ed Miliband has released the following statement praising his “enormous contribution:

“Peter Hain has made an enormous contribution from the front bench over the past 16 years.

“In government his Ministerial career was extraordinarily diverse including time in the Foreign Office, the Northern Ireland Office where he played a crucial role in the Northern Ireland peace process and at Work and Pensions. He also had the distinction of serving as Leader of the House for two years and remains respected across the House as one of our most distinguished Parliamentarians.

“He has been a tireless champion of Wales for the past three years as Welsh Secretary and Shadow Secretary.

“His political campaigning has not just been limited to his time in Parliament, before becoming an MP he played an important role in the anti-apartheid struggle in South Africa.

“Most of all he has been an exceptional colleague and trusted friend both in government and in opposition. He will be a great loss to the Shadow Cabinet but we know his service to Wales and to the Labour Party will continue for many years to come.”

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  • treborc1

    He really is the last big politician within Wales I’d put him with the very top group, sadly I think by walking away now to try and get the Severn barrage going is a mistake, 25 billion on something which may or may not work is way to much. But it’s the same old idea it’s only money.

    But his time as a Welsh minister  leaves a big gap  within the Welsh political  scene 

  • treborc1

    He really is the last big politician within Wales I’d put him with the very top group, sadly I think by walking away now to try and get the Severn barrage going is a mistake, 25 billion on something which may or may not work is way to much. But it’s the same old idea it’s only money.

    But his time as a Welsh minister  leaves a big gap  within the Welsh political  scene 

    • Dave Postles

      You’ve always the prospect of the return of John Deadwood.

      • treborc1

        I went onto TV with him once  week in week out in Wales  to discuss the closure of the Remploy factories. hell of a argument, but like most things he won.

  • Jayne54

    He has resigned to champion an environmentally destructive barrage across the Severn. A project that would devsatate countless bird species and the ecology of the river. So much for Labour being a party of the environment! One more reason to vote Green when you see former Ministers making their beds with consortia who are set on destroying what wild place and habitats we have left.

    • Brumanuensis

      The barrage would have environmental impacts on birds, but nonetheless there are grounds for believing that the potential impact has been exaggerated. As some studies have pointed out, reduced turbidity could increase bio-diversity (see illustration).

      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Severn_Barrages_map.svg c

      Coupled with power potential, reductions in carbon emissions, improved transport link opportunities and the urgent need to develop renewable sources of energy, I think the loss of the Severn Bore is minor price to pay. There’s no such thing as a free lunch and sometimes long-run environmental gains have to be made from short-term environmental sacrifices. Not to mention that the barrage would offer significant protection against rising sea-levels for the Bristol-Cardiff region.

      Obviously I support anything that would mitigate harmful impacts and I’m open to the proposals for ‘Tidal Fences’ as an alternative, but let’s not kid ourselves that Green Energy is cost-free.

    • treborc1

      It’s just to costly for what it will produce.

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