YP Comment: A lack of honour?

HOW ironic that Tory chairman Sir Patrick McLoughlin should have received his knighthood, one of David Cameron's parting gifts in his resignation honours list for his cronies and his wife Samantha's stylist, on the day his failings at the Department for Transport were laid bare.
By The Newsroom
Published 9th Nov 2016, 11:19 BST
Updated 16th Nov 2016, 16:39 BST
Sir Patrick McLoughlin receives his knighthood from the Queen.Sir Patrick McLoughlin receives his knighthood from the Queen.
Sir Patrick McLoughlin receives his knighthood from the Queen.

Once again, the validity of the honours system finds itself being undermined – Defence Secretary Sir Michael Fallon and Scarborough-born chief whip Gavin Williamson were other noteworthy recipients – and detracts from all those worthy of wider recognition because of their humbling and ground-breaking work.

The most obvious example is youth worker Jayne Senior who collected a MBE yesterday, a deserved award significantly inferior to Sir Patrick and Sir Michael’s knighthoods and the CBE given to Mr Williamson for serving as the former PM’s bag carrier.

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Without this remarkable woman’s courage, it is doubtful whether the full shocking details of the Rotherham sex grooming scandal would have emerged. Now hundreds of abuse victims ignored by the authorities for too long are finally getting justice of sorts. Given this, it is surely time for honours to community champions to take precedence in future over awards to politicians and career bureaucrats 
only doing their job.

Related topics:David CameronGavin Williamson