Government defends New Year Honours after 'croynism' claims

Pic:Theresa May's government have defended the New Year Honours list
Political reporter(wp/es):

 The government has defended the New Year Honours and insisted it is unfair to criticise awards given to Tory donors, despite allegations of cronyism.

Prime Minister Theresa May has previously pledged to shake up the system and in November joked that she "retched" when she saw David Cameron's resignation honours list.

But Labour has slammed the Tories for rewarding "cronies" in the New Year Honours.

Tory donor David Ord, who has given the party £930,000, has been knighted for "political service".

Dominic Johnson, associate treasurer of the Conservative Party and now CBE, gave the Cameron family somewhere to stay when they left Downing Street in July.

The Government emphasised the independent oversight of honours nominations, which can be submitted by Whitehall departments and members of the public.

A Government source said: "Honours are rewards for hard work and contributions to civic society. 

All nominations for honours are assessed by one of the nine independent honours committees.

"It is unfair to criticise individuals being honoured just because they have also chosen to donate to a political party.

"Donations should be transparent, but it's not an excuse to knock people for broader philanthropy, enterprise and public service."

But a spokesman for Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said: "The Conservatives are making a mockery of our honours system.

"Every crony appointment is an insult to the incredible people from right across Britain who are rewarded for the great contributions they make to our national life."

The Prime Minister could also face complaints over the 14 honours handed to officials from the Home Office, which she ran from 2010 to 2016.

The New Year Honours have also faced criticism for "rewarding failure", with the head of Britain's foreign aid department coming under fire after being awarded a knighthood.

Mark Lowcock has been honoured just weeks after the Department for International Development was reprimanded for building a £285 million airport on the remote island of St Helena, where it is too windy for commercial planes to land.