Hain: It isn't just me, y'know

So, Peter Hain isn't going to be prosecuted over the donations scandal that cost him his place in the Cabinet. So, technically speaking, he is innocent. And let's not get lost in the semantics of this - yes, the police could not find sufficient evidence to charge him, but in the UK that means he is innocent.

Of course, his campaign still failed to declare thousands of pounds worth of donations, so he still fucked up in a massive way. And his defence - that other MPs have been just as careless, if not more so, really does not stand up to close scrutiny. His campaign broke the rules, just as other campaigns have broken the rules. All this means is that Peter Hain is a particularly conspicous turd in a shower of incompetent, rule dodging shits.

On Comment Is Free, Hain argues that MPs should be wary of calling for each other to resign and/or be investigated over dubious donations:

And those MPs who have been too ready to call for police involvement need to understand that any momentary political advantage they might so achieve over opponents actually undermines politics itself.

This is, of course, horse shit. It isn't politicians calling for police involvement that undermines politics, but rather the fact that the police need to be called in at all. It is the politicians breaking the laws and the rules that creates all the problems. And it is that arrogance, that fetid stench of corruption, that is so undermining politics in this country. Hain's defence - that he should never have been investigated, that others are doing it as well - reeks of the self-pity of a kid who was caught with his hand in the sweetie jar. One of the reasons why there is such contempt for politicians in this country is because they all seem to be at it, and it is only one or two of them who are actually exposed and face any sort of penalty.