Theresa May pledges to restore faith in honours system after David Cameron’s cronies scandal
Prime Minister says honours should go to people who 'really contribute'
THERESA MAY has vowed to restore the nation’s faith in the honours system after David Cameron’s gong for cronies shame.
In a thinly veiled attack on the ex-PM, Mrs May said honours should go to people who “really contribute”.
The comments came just moments after David Cameron’s ex-chief spinner ‘Sir’ Craig Oliver appeared before her on the BBC’s Andrew Marr show on Sunday – and compared himself with Man Utd legend Sir Alex Ferguson.
Sir Craig was one of 46 aides, allies and donors rewarded in the former PM’s official resignation honours list in July.
Isabel Spearman, a stylist who worked with Samantha Cameron, was also awarded with a gong along with Thea Rogers, George Osborne’s most senior aide.
Asked if the honours system had “drifted” away from its original purpose, Mrs May said: “Of course the focus is always on the big names and the headlines in that sense.
“But I agree, that we want an Honours system that actually ensure we can recognise when people out there are really contributing to our society and to their communities.”
In one of her first announcements on becoming PM, Mrs May vowed to reward Britain’s Olympic stars from the Rio 2016 Games.
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She is expected to award knighthoods from stars such as Mo Farah to Laura Trott and Jason Kenny.
And the PM yesterday insisted that on the whole, the Honours system worked well.
She said: “If you look at any of the Honours when they’re announced the vast majority of people are people who have given something perhaps to their local community, who’ve been involved in charities, who’ve been working in a particular area and contributed a lot over the years.”
Sir Craig Oliver told Andrew Marr yesterday that yes he was ‘Sir Craig’ but he didn’t have to be addressed as such.
He explained that it “never really occurred to him” to use his new title on the cover of his insiders account of how No10 lost the referendum.
He said it was the same as when Sir Alex Ferguson published his autobiography without using the title awarded to the 38 trophy winning former Manchester United boss.