ELEVEN days ago in this column we suggested Cabinet minister Peter Hain would be respected if he resigned in the wake of revelations that he failed to disclose donations of more than £100,000.

Yesterday he quit as Work and Pensions Secretary and Welsh Secretary - but we doubt he did so with his reputation intact.

Mr Hain has clung on to office as the allegations surrounding him have worsened. Yesterday the police were called in to investigate the money donated to his failed campaign for the deputy leadership of the Labour Party. The minister immediately resigned so he could concentrate on, in his words, "clearing my name".

Mr Hain is right to have gone. But he should have done so weeks ago.

As soon as the level of undeclared donations was revealed he should have stood down. His determination to stay in office was misplaced; his claims that the failure to declare the - perfectly legal - donations was a result of being too busy doing his Cabinet job were ludicrous.

This issue has dragged on since November. Initially the undeclared donations were thought to amount to a few thousand pounds. When it became clear earlier this month that the figure was £103,000, Mr Hain should have gone.

This affair has reflected badly on a party that came to power in 1997 on an anti-sleaze ticket.

Mr Hain may well have done nothing wrong apart from making a mistake. He is right to attempt to clear his name. But he should not have been doing it while running two government departments.