A Commonwealth crony, ‘Baroness Brazen’ and the honours scandal that’s sparking fury at the Palace
THE new political head of the Commonwealth, Baroness Scotland, has become entangled in an extraordinary row over abuse of the honours system.
A Mail on Sunday investigation has discovered the former Labour Cabinet Minister was involved in Anthony Bailey obtaining an honour from Antigua, which he is now abusing to masquerade as a knight here.
Baroness Scotland and Bailey, who has described her as a ‘dear friend’, collaborated on the charitable work that earned him the honour, an Antiguan knighthood. But he has insisted on being called ‘Sir’ in the UK, flouting convention and angering Buckingham Palace, which has told him to stop giving the impression of being a British knight.
Prince Charles and David Cameron are among those who have been effectively duped into wrongly referring to him as ‘Sir Anthony’. He now faces the ignominious prospect of having his knighthood withdrawn by Antigua.
Two of his associates, who received their knighthoods at the same time, have had their honours revoked pending an investigation.
Last night, Baroness Scotland faced questions about her role in the affair. Bailey received the honour following a £1.1million investment in schools and church programmes from a charity of which both he and the Baroness were members. But she denied being ‘party to the granting of a knighthood to Anthony Bailey or anyone else, and has no opinion on how private individuals comport themselves’.
Tory MP Stuart Andrew said Baroness Scotland ‘appears to have been particularly brazen in her actions’ – adding: ‘She needs to take responsibility for any role she had in this business.
‘If Anthony Bailey is continuing to use this title in the UK it’s disrespectful in the extreme to people who have knighthoods who absolutely deserve them. It makes a mockery of the honours system.’
A Government Minister said last night: ‘This has caused considerable anger at the Palace and Foreign Office. This man is passing himself off as a knight in Britain and won’t listen to advice to stop.’
But Bailey has ignored all warnings about the misuse of his award. In response he launched an astonishing attack on the Foreign Office and Royal Household, accusing them of a ‘dirty tricks’ campaign.
Baroness Scotland hit headlines in 2009, when she was Attorney-General. It was revealed she employed an illegal immigrant on £6 an hour. She was prosecuted for breaking immigration laws she had helped draft and fined £5,000.
She became Commonwealth Secretary-General, which comes with a £160,000 salary and a grace-andfavour Mayfair home, last month. Bailey and his friends were knighted in November 2014 by Antigua’s Governor General Sir Rodney Williams – who is married to Baroness Scotland’s cousin.
Sources close to Bailey said last night he is entitled to use the title ‘Sir’. But the Foreign Office insisted he was not. A spokesman said: ‘The convention that British recipients of knighthoods from other countries cannot use the title “Sir” in the UK dates back to 1813. There has been no change to the convention.’
Antigua’s Prime Minister, Gaston Browne, confirmed the knighthood awarded to Bailey is under ‘review’. He said when his party came to power in 2014, one of its first acts was to switch its support for the Commonwealth Secretary-General job from Baroness Scotland to diplomat Sir Ronald Sanders.
The knighthoods were arranged prior to Browne’s election. ‘By the time we came to office, this was a fait accompli and we honoured the arrangements without any knowledge of the prior discussions.’
One of the other two men is Nadmi Auchi, who was convicted of fraud and bribery over the Elf Aquitaine corruption scandal in 2003. The other is Bulgarian businessman Spas Roussev.
Mr Roussev’s spokesman said he was ‘approached and offered an Antiguan honour in exchange for supporting local charitable projects’. But he had ‘questions about the arrangement’.
The spokesman added: ‘It became clear that all was not well, the process involved was irregular and not as originally described. Mr Roussev therefore withheld all payments and asked to return the honour, but this was refused. He has been pursued for payment ever since.’
All three men who were knighted were, along with Baroness Scotland, part of a delegation from an ancient Catholic order, The Sacred Military Constantinian Order of Saint George, which was revived ten years ago by Bailey. The peer and Bailey flew to Antigua for his investiture as part of a delegation from the order.
On the organisation’s website, the Baroness takes personal responsibility for introducing the order to Antigua. After the 2014 trip to the island, she issued a statement saying she was ‘truly delighted’ with the visit which had only come after her ‘pleas’ to Bailey and the other leaders of the order.
Last Monday, the Order of St George and Bailey hosted a dinner in London for the president of Hunever gary. Tory MP Oliver Letwin read out a letter from David Cameron, referring to ‘Sir Anthony Bailey’.
A high-level Government source said this was added in by Bailey during the dinner, making it seem Mr Cameron recognised the title.
Earlier this year, Bailey posted on his Facebook page an invitation from the Duchess of Cornwall to an event at St James’s Palace. He was referred to as ‘Sir Anthony’.
In 2007, the 46-year-old married Austrian princess Marie-Therese von Hohenberg, the great-granddaughter of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, whose assassination led to the outbreak of the First World War.
Bailey comes from relatively modest beginnings. The son of an engineer, he attended a comprehensive in Ickenham, Middlesex, then University College London.
He went on to work for PR firm Burson-Marsteller, before setting up his own companies advising states and private bodies including Saudi Arabia, Russia, Yemen and Bahrain, weapons manufacturer BAE Systems, and oil company Shell. He is reportedly able to charge clients £500 an hour.
Bailey was a key fundraiser for Tony Blair and is credited with raising £8million for his flagship city academies project.
A spokesman for Baroness Scotland – who is no longer active in the Constantinian Order – said: ‘Patricia Scotland has been a member of the order for over a decade and had a long-standing hope that the order’s good charitable works could be extended to the Caribbean, which pre-dated any consideration of being Commonwealth Secretary-General
‘She was asked to join the visit of the order to the Caribbean to mark the start of their work there and was happy to do so. She did not identify nor select those who received the institutional honours. Patricia Scotland had not met, and did not know, Mr Auchi and Mr Roussev prior to attending the ceremony.
‘She did not make any introductions on their behalf, nor has she advocated for them in any way. If their honours are now being questioned then due process should be followed. As Commonwealth Secretary-General, she has no say in how sovereign member states resolve these matters and will not comment on them.
‘Patricia Scotland has not been and is not now a “close ally” of any particular administration in the Caribbean, current or former. At the time of her appointment as SecretaryGeneral, the government of Antigua was actively supporting a different candidate for the job, so that point is moot.
‘Patricia Scotland was not party to the granting of an institutional knighthood to Anthony Bailey for his role with the Constantinian Order, or anyone else, and has no opinion on how private individuals comport themselves.’
Honours revoked ‘Referred to as Sir Anthony’ ‘Did not make introductions’