Hain In The Rear

On first glance, Peter Hain's remarks about the Shiraz-quaffing dinner party set would appear to be yet another New Labour attack dog concentrating more on lashing out at what should be his own side rather than the Tories (aping Aaronovitch, basically, though we've heard it all before with that "forces of conservatism" speech). However, it's no secret that Hain is widely-despised among the more solidly right-wing folk within the Labour Party for being part of 'Liberals for Labour' and his remarks might be more in mind with what might happen after the General Election than before it.

One person's intervention in the electoral process within Hain's own backyard might make the downgrading of cannabis more of an election issue than he would have wished, not least because it wasn't exactly universally popular with his Cabinet colleagues and it might see his own liberalism pushed to its limits. Or something.