Knighthood for IDS but Bercow snubbed over ‘anti-brexit bias’
Former Conservative leader honoured along with the team behind Theresa May’s Brexit deal
Political correspondent
IAIN DUNCAN SMITH leads the political New Year Honours list with a knighthood, as members of the team behind Theresa May’s Brexit deal are also recognised.
The former Conservative leader, who as work and pensions secretary helped introduce Universal Credit during an overhaul of the welfare system, is one of two Conservative MPS to be knighted.
The former Army lieutenant, 65, who led the Conservatives from 200103, served as chairman of Boris Johnson’s leadership campaign and has remained a loyal ally. Earlier this month, he defied expectations to cling on to his Chingford and Woodford Green seat, a top target for Labour.
Joining Sir Iain is Bob Neill, the veteran Tory MP who chaired the Commons justice committee in the last parliament, while John Manzoni, the chief executive of the Civil Service and permanent secretary to the Cabinet Office, has been made a Knight Commander of the Bath.
A number of senior civil servants and representatives believed to have played a part in the Brexit negotiations under Mrs May’s administration have also been awarded honours.
Colin Dick, the deputy director at the EU Exit Strategy Department, has been made an OBE, as has Fergus Eckersley, counsellor for the UK Permanent Representation to the EU. Mark Collins, first secretary at the Permanent Representation, has been made an MBE.
Their awards are unlikely to receive the same criticism as that levelled at Sir Olly Robbins, Mrs May’s former chief Brexit negotiator, who was knighted in September in her resignation honours list, a decision branded a “reward for failure” by many Conservative MPS. Meanwhile, John Bercow, the former Commons speaker, has failed to receive an award, despite confessing his desire to be made a peer two weeks ago. While former speakers are traditionally elevated to the Lords, government sources have long indicated that Mr Bercow would be denied the privilege due to allegations of anti-brexit bias.
Last night, a Whitehall source told The Daily Telegraph that ministers had also been angered by Mr Bercow’s alleged failure to tackle claims of bullying in Parliament.
Sir Iain’s knighthood will be cheered by Conservative MPS. Once referred to as the “quiet man” of politics, in recent years he has become known as an outspoken backbencher.
An ardent Brexiteer, he was one of the most vocal opponents of Mrs May’s Brexit deal and played an influential role in the European Research Group of Tory MPS.
He clashed with David Cameron’s administration and in 2016 quit the Cabinet over what he said were “indefensible” cuts to disability benefits.
Although he had argued that welfare reforms were necessary to incentivise people to find employment, Sir Iain took aim at George Osborne’s desire to further “salami slice” funding, which he argued was a “compromise too far”.
Outside Parliament, Sir Iain has also won plaudits for establishing the Centre for Social Justice think tank.
Last night, opposition parties criticised the decision. Christine Jardine, a Liberal Democrat MP, said: “It beggars belief … he is the architect of Universal Credit – a failed system that has left thousands of families struggling to pay bills and buy food.”
Meanwhile, Diana Johnson, the Labour MP who campaigned on behalf of victims of the NHS contaminated blood scandal, is made a dame.
Claude Moraes, the senior Labour MEP who is a long-standing campaigner for refugees, justice and civil liberties, is made an OBE.