AS CABINET politician Peter Hain gears up for his bid to become deputy Labour party leader, he is also keeping an eye on saving Ipswich's bus services.

AS CABINET politician Peter Hain gears up for his bid to become deputy Labour party leader, he is also keeping an eye on saving Ipswich's bus services

Mr Hain has today thrown his weight behind The Evening Star campaign to save threatened buses in the town.

Speaking to fellow Labour party members in the town's library, the secretary of state for Wales and Northern Ireland, said it was a disgrace that the Conservative and Liberal Democrat-run council wanted to axe services.

Three routes - the 14, 19, and 22 - are under threat because of the demand from Ipswich Borough Council that Ipswich Buses pays it a dividend and rent, which will require the company to make £400,000 worth of cuts.

Mr Hain said: “I'm here to support the campaign that is being run against cuts to bus services.

“What really struck me is the Tories and Liberals talking up their green credentials but when it comes to substance they cut green transportation methods like the buses. They can't have it both ways.

“What we want to see is an expansion of bus services.

“I think it's absolutely crucial. Climate change threatens human kind and in low lying areas like Suffolk climate change causes real problems.”

Mr Hain, in Ipswich on Tuesday , also told the library audience that he was hoping to get heavily involved with the renewal of his party if his bid for the deputy leadership was successful.

He said: “We've had ten years in power and we're coming up to a leadership contest.

“The party needs to renew itself and gain a historic fourth term.

“I want to focus on the relationship between the party and the grassroots and beyond, to citizens.

“We need to rebuild the trust in politics and I think we can do it.”

n Are you pleased Peter Hain has supported the campaign to save Ipswich's buses? Write to Your Letters, Evening Star, 30 Lower Brook Street, Ipswich IP4 1AN or e-mail eveningstarletters@eveningstar.co.uk

Peter Hain

Age: 57

Born: Nairobi, Kenya

Career: Labour MP for Neath in Wales and now secretary of state for Northern Ireland and Wales.

Background: Peter Hain was brought up in South Africa by parents who were anti-apartheid activists. The family fled to Britain in 1966 and Peter became involved in the Stop the Seventy Tour Campaign which disrupted sporting tours of South Africa. In 1977 he became a founding member of the Anti-Nazi League and joined the Labour party. He was elected as an MP in 1991 and has held various governmental roles since then.

Source: Hain4Labour