Former prime minister Liz Truss has doled out peerages to the men who played key roles in masterminding Britain’s exit from the European Union.
Ms Truss – who lasted just 49 days in No 10 after she decimated the UK economy – nominated Matthew Elliott, the former chief executive of Vote Leave and pro-Brexit Tory donor Sir Jon Moynihan to sit in the House of Lords.
Mr Elliot helped found the TaxPayers’ Alliance, a small-state think-tank committed to low taxes, while Mr Moynihan donated £20,000 to Ms Truss‘s leadership campaign in 2021, and is the former chairman of Vote Leave.
Ruth Porter, her former deputy chief of staff at No 10 is also on the list for a peerage, but there is no such honour for Mark Littlewood, the former boss of the Institute for Economic Affairs (IEA), who backed Ms Truss’ disastrous mini-Budget.
Ms Truss and former Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng’s economic plans, which included £45bn of unfunded tax cuts, triggered chaos in the financial markets and steep declines in the pound.
Mr Kwarteng was promptly sacked by Ms Truss just 38 days into the job. She survived just 49 days before being replaced by Rishi Sunak in Downing Street.
Labour branded the honours recommended by Ms Truss “tarnished gongs” that rewarded failed economic policies. The Liberal Democrats described it as a “shameless move”.
As well as the three peerages Ms Truss has nominated eight people to receive honours including MBEs, OBEs and knighthoods.
The list attracted considerable controversy before it was even published due to the short-lived nature of Ms Truss‘ premiership and was pushed out by No 10 at the same time as a slew of separate honours late on Friday afternoon.
Also on the list is the MP for Thurrock Jacqueline Doyle-Price who is recommended for a damehood following her service as Minister of State for Industry – a position she held from September 2022 to October 2022.
Another of Ms Truss‘ colleagues, Alec Shelbrooke, MP for Elmet and Rothwell, has been recommended for a knighthood for his political service as Minister of State for Defence Procurement.
Other honours in the list include Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) for former special advisers Sophie Ina Jarvis and Shabbir Riyaz Merali, an OBE for Robert Butler, MP for Aylesbury, and Suzanne Webb, MP for Stourbridge, and a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) for Conservative Association chairman in South West Norfolk David Hills.
Since leaving No 10 Ms Truss has continued to defend her free-market economic ideas, despite her disastrous tenure as prime minister leading to chaos in the money markets.
Following the publication of her resignation honours list, she said: “I am delighted these champions for the Conservative causes of freedom, limited government and a proud and sovereign Britain have been suitably honoured.”
Deputy Liberal Democrat Leader Daisy Cooper MP said: “This shameless move to reward Liz Truss’s car crash cronies is matched only by Sunak’s weakness in failing to block it.
“Truss handing out gongs after blowing a hole in the public finances and leaving families reeling from spiraling mortgage costs calls this whole honours system into disrepute.
“The honours system should celebrate hard working people who have achieved great things; sullying this celebration shows just how out of touch this Conservative Government really is.”
Jonathan Ashworth MP, Labour’s shadow cabinet office minister, said: “This list is proof positive of Rishi Sunak’s weakness and a slap in the face to working people who are paying the price of the Tories crashing the economy.
“Honours should be for those committed to public service, not rewards for Tory failure. Rather than apologise for crashing the economy and driving up mortgages rates, costing families thousands, Rishi Sunak has nodded through these tarnished gongs because he is too weak to lead a Tory party completely out of touch with working people.”
