Sir Keir Starmer, the leader of the Labour party, has expressed his opposition to the resignation honours list and vowed to abolish it if he were to become prime minister. He criticized the tradition, stating that it is difficult to justify. This statement comes in the aftermath of a controversy surrounding Boris Johnson’s honours list, where several close allies of the prime minister were rewarded and eight individuals were blocked from the House of Lords by the appointments committee.
During an interview on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, Starmer highlighted the fact that former prime minister Tony Blair did not have a resignation honours list. He suggested that if the tradition were reserved for individuals who had made exceptional contributions, such as those involved in the development of the vaccine or other significant public services, it could potentially be justified. However, Starmer finds it difficult to see how the current system can be justified. He believes that there are alternative avenues to recognize individuals and proposes a cleaner approach of not having a resignation honours list, just like Blair.
When asked about potentially intervening in Rishi Sunak’s honours recommendations, Starmer expressed his belief that Sunak’s actions were incorrect. He argued that Sunak should have set aside Johnson’s honours list and waited for the recommendations of the privileges committee’s report on the partygate scandal. The committee’s findings are scheduled to be debated and voted on by MPs, with the potential consequence of a 90-day ban from the House of Commons for Johnson, who resigned after learning about the recommendations, due to “repeated contempts” of Parliament.
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