Peter Hain: Meaning (information, definition, explanation, facts)

The Right Honourable Peter Gerald Hain (born February 16, 1950) is a British Labour Party politician. He is MP for Neath in Wales and sits in the Cabinet as Leader of the House of Commons, Lord Privy Seal and Secretary of State for Wales. He came to the UK from South Africa as a teenager, and was a noted anti-Apartheid campaigner in the 1970s.

Peter Hain was born to South African parents in Nairobi, Kenya. His parents were anti-Apartheid activists in South Africa, for which they were made "banned persons", briefly jailed, and prevented from working. In 1966 the family fled South Africa and settled in London, where Peter's father Walter Hain made a living as an architect. Peter became chairman of the Stop the Seventy Tour Campaign which disrupted tours by the South African Rugby Union and cricket teams in 1969 and 1970. In 1976 he was tried for, and acquitted of, a 1974 bank robbery, allegedly having been framed by South African intelligence agents. He joined the Liberal Party and was elected president of the Young Liberals, but in 1977 defected to Labour. The same year, he was a founder of the Anti-Nazi League.

Hain worked as a researcher for the Union of Communication Workers, rising to become their head of research before being elected to the House of Commons at a by-election in 1991. In 1995 he became a Labour whip and in 1996 became shadow employment minister. After Labour's victory in the 1997 general election he joined the government, first at the Welsh Office, then as minister for Africa at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

Robert Mugabe, whom he helped into power, attacked him as a "racist" for backing Zimbabwe's white farmers' rights.

He moved briefly to the Department of Trade and Industry before returning to the Foreign Office as minister for Europe. He was vocal in advocating joint sovereignty of Gibraltar with Spain, leading to him being reviled in the colony, which overwhelmingly rejected sovereignty in a referendum in November 2002. In October 2002, he joined the Cabinet as Secretary of State for Wales, but continued to represent the UK at the Convention on the Future of Europe. In June 2003 he was made Leader of the House of Commons in a cabinet reshuffle, but retained the Wales portfolio.

Quotes

Having fought most of my life against apartheid - and of course my parents were imprisoned during the struggle - I am thrilled by the way South Africa has developed into a model multiracial democracy. It is amazing when you think that 10 years ago apartheid ruled.

Zimbabwe on the other hand is a tragedy. Those of us who fought for the liberation of black Zimbabweans from racist minority white rule feel just as betrayed by Robert Mugabe's despotic regime as do his people. He has presided over the demolition of a once prosperous and beautiful African country into a state of desperation for its people who are starved and oppressed by his tyranny. I strongly support European sanctions against Mugabe and his ruling clique. We must do all in our power to help the people of Zimbabwe achieve their freedom and prosperity once again.