Reforming the House of Lords should begin by constraining a departing leader’s power to dish out lifetime awards to friends and cronies

When handing out lifetime honours, Boris Johnson’s guiding principle has been brazen cronyism and snubbing established convention. But the most recent revelations, on the eve of MPs debating the privileges committee report into Mr Johnson’s deceit over Partygate, are jaw-dropping. On Sunday, a video emerged of Conservative staffers enjoying a 2020 Christmas “jingle and mingle” jamboree that patently broke lockdown rules. Mr Johnson must have known about this event. Yet at least two of those at the party were on his resignation honours list.

Voters care about honesty and integrity in politics. Mr Johnson does not. By waving through the list, Rishi Sunak appears either to agree with his disgraced predecessor or to be too weak to stop it. The government says it was respecting “due process” – as prime ministers routinely rubber stamp those appointments approved by peers. But Mr Johnson did not respect such norms. The manner of his departure – convicted by parliament’s highest court of lying – is unprecedented. The current prime minister is responsible for recommending honours. Mr Sunak would have been justified in refusing Mr Johnson’s list. He should have done so.

Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here.

Continue reading…

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

You May Also Like

If Keir Starmer is to win an election, he has to restore Britain’s faith in politics | Jonathan Freedland

The Tories have smashed up the country so much, there’s little confidence…

Medical students urged to fill gaps when junior doctors strike in England

Exclusive: several NHS organisations have asked unqualified medics to provide support during…

Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen