Liz Truss fingers peerages to Vote Leave supremos as authorities sneaks out her resignation honours | EUROtoday

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Former prime minister Liz Truss has doled out peerages to the lads who performed key roles in masterminding Britain’s exit from the European Union.

Ms Truss – who lasted simply 49 days in No 10 after she decimated the UK financial system – nominated Matthew Elliott, the previous chief government of Vote Leave and pro-Brexit Tory donor Sir Jon Moynihan to take a seat within the House of Lords.

Mr Elliot helped discovered the TaxPayers’ Alliance, a small-state think-tank dedicated to low taxes, whereas 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 financial plans, which included £45bn of unfunded tax cuts, triggered chaos within the monetary markets and steep declines within the pound.

Mr Kwarteng was promptly sacked by Ms Truss simply 38 days into the job. She survived simply 49 days earlier than being changed by Rishi Sunak in Downing Street.

Labour branded the honours really useful by Ms Truss “tarnished gongs” that rewarded failed financial insurance policies. The Liberal Democrats described it as a “shameless move”.

Campaigners referred to as for pressing reform to the “rotten and out of control” peerage system and criticised the checklist which proposes a brand new peer for each day-and-a-half Ms Truss was in workplace.

As properly because the three peerages Ms Truss has nominated eight folks to obtain honours together with MBEs, OBEs and knighthoods.

The checklist attracted appreciable controversy earlier than it was even revealed because of 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.

Novelist Shirley Ida Conran, who is also on the list, donated £5,000 to Ms Truss to support activity in her constituency, according to the public register of interest. Ms Conran will become a dame for her services to mathematics education as founder of the Maths Anxiety Trust.

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 automotive crash cronies is matched solely by Sunak’s weak spot in failing to dam it.

“Truss handing out gongs after blowing a gap within the public funds and leaving households reeling from spiraling mortgage prices calls this complete honours system into disrepute.

“The honours system ought to have a good time exhausting working individuals who have achieved nice issues; sullying this celebration reveals simply how out of contact this Conservative Government actually is.”

Jonathan Ashworth MP, Labour’s shadow cupboard workplace minister, mentioned: “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.”

Naomi Smith, Chief Executive of Best for Britain mentioned: “The arrogance and incompetence of Liz Truss’ brief stint as Prime Minister caused unnecessary financial hardship for millions and was a national embarrassment.

“Allowing her to bestow jobs for life to others who have caused serious harm to Britain can only increase mistrust and apathy in politics.”

Willie Sullivan, senior director for campaigns on the Electoral Reform Society, mentioned: “It will feel like an insult to many to see Liz Truss handing out peerages to friends and supporters after her disastrously short stint as prime minister. It looks like the political class dishing out rewards for failure at a time when many people are still suffering the effects from her turbulent premiership.

“Liz Truss‘s resignation honours list also adds yet more peers to the House of Lords, which already has around 800 members making it the second largest legislative chamber in the world after China’s National People’s Congress.

“This all highlights just how rotten and out of control the current peerages system is, and why it needs urgent reform to prevent it causing any more damage to the public’s trust in politics. It is clear this is not a fit nor proper way to choose who sits in our Parliament.

“This is why we need to replace the bloated and unelected Lords with a smaller elected chamber where the people of this country, not former prime ministers, choose who sits in Parliament making the laws we all live under.”