No ‘pass’ for donor honours

Major Labour donors would not get an “automatic pass” to receiving honours if the party wins power, its chairwoman said as she criticised Rishi Sunak for recommending a knighthood for a top Tory backer.

Businessman Mohamed Mansour – who gave £5 million to the Tories in 2023 and is a senior treasurer at the party – has been knighted for business, charity and political service.

Four Conservative MPS were also given gongs in a surprise honours list slipped out while Parliament was in recess and on the eve of the Easter bank holiday weekend.

Labour frontbencher Anneliese Dodds said yesterday the honours system should be used as a means of rewarding people who have made a "contribution to our public life".

But she did not rule out Labour donors receiving honours if Sir Keir Starmer's party wins the general election this year.

Asked the question, she told Sky News: "It shouldn't be an automatic pass through from somebody who's made a huge donation to a political party then being rewarded in that manner.

"The concern is we have a man who, last January, had given the biggest ever donation to the Conservative Party. That was £5m, and now he's being honoured by the Prime Minister."

Senior No 10 sources pointed to Sir Mohamed's charitable work, including support for The Prince's Foundation – now The King's Foundation – and a major contributor to St Paul's Cathedral's Remember Me project, to raise money for a memorial to those who died of Covid-19.

But Ms Dodds said the public would "make their own minds up" on whether that was the true reason behind his knighthood.

She said: "We think it's really important that we have a system that is beyond public questioning and reproach.”