Such tawdry honours

AS a middle-ranking television executive, Craig Oliver’s career was unremarkable. Even as No10’s head of communications, his contribution to the nation was hardly glittering – especially as he was so involved in the Remain camp’s pre-referendum fear tactics.

So the Mail has one question: why on earth does this man deserve a knighthood? Mr Oliver is one of 15 people to whom David Cameron wants to give gongs to mark his resignation – most of them from his personal staff.

It’s the latest example of how our tawdry honours system has devalued the currency of British politics, rewarding cronies above those who make a real contribution to the country.

Too late, we also learn Sir Philip Green may be stripped of his knighthood following the collapse of BHS. That’s all very well but the real question is why he was given it in the first place.

The corrosive effect of all this is seen at its worst in the House of Lords, which is now so stuffed with party timeservers, donors and dubious celebrities that it has become a laughing stock.

Theresa May secured the Tory leadership promising a more honest, upright kind of politics. The Mail appreciates how much she has on her plate but may we humbly suggest that one priority should be to clean up the honours system.

The insidious way it’s been abused is yet another reason why people are losing faith in the political system.