By Mark Sanders Political correspondent, BBC News

Friends of Peter Hain say he is a man of "great integrity"

Peter Hain is one of the more approachable cabinet ministers, at ease in front of the camera or behind the microphone.

But not today. He read out his statement about the donations row and then turned on his heels not taking any questions.

Yes, there was the apology for failing to declare all the donations at the right time; Yes there was his dismissal as "absurd" that he had anything to hide.

But there wasn't any explanation about the strange way his team had tried to clear his campaign debts.

Why was it that a loan for �25,000 was in effect channelled through a mysterious think tank virtually unknown at Westminster? The Progressive Policies Forum is the think-tank that hasn't troubled itself with much thinking.

It has published no pamphlets, organised no meetings and come up with no policy suggestions.

Financial mess

Why was it that the man who made that �25,000 loan, Willie Nagel, a diamond dealer, wasn't told about the ultimate destination of the money, though he wasn't surprised?

These questions remain unanswered, and while they remain unanswered Mr Hain remains under pressure - despite his defiance today that he'll be getting on with his cabinet jobs.

He does have Gordon Brown's backing. Number 10 has reiterated that Mr Hain continues to enjoy the prime minister's "full support".

However, that cannot be guaranteed if things get worse.

"Full confidence" is often a prime minister's default setting when a member of the government gets into hot water (it's the F9 key on Downing Street keyboards).

Those close to Mr Brown believe that Mr Hain hasn't acted dishonestly but there's bafflement as to how his campaign could get into such an awful financial mess.

For the moment Mr Hain clearly has no intention of resigning from either of his two jobs in cabinet. But it all depends on Gordon Brown's view.

Peter Hain has been in tighter spots before - after all how many other cabinet ministers have stood trial for bank robbery?

Would Mr Brown's patience begin to thin if there are more stories and the government gets bogged down in another donations row?

This mess has landed on Number 10's doorstep just as Gordon Brown starts 2008 with a flurry of announcements - an attempt to get back on the front foot after the all the problems at the fag end of 2007.

Plaid Cymru's leader at Westminster, Elfin Llwyd, says Mr Hain should have resigned. The Conservative back bencher David Davies (MP for Monmouth) has reported Mr Hain to the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards.

But so far the Conservative front bench haven't bayed for his blood and are waiting to see what any inquiry throws up.

Peter Hain has been in tighter spots before. After all how many other cabinet ministers have stood trial for bank robbery? (When he was an anti-apartheid campaigner in the 1970s the South African security services tried to frame him for a bank robbery)