Theresa May has been accused of bringing the honours system into disrepute after handing a knighthood to a former minister known to be wavering on whether or not to support her Brexit deal.
Downing Street announced the award had been granted to John Hayes MP, a junior minister to May when she was the home secretary, on Friday afternoon.
“People will rightly look at this knighthood and wonder how it relates to the looming Brexit vote in the Commons,” said a spokesman for the Scottish National party leader, Nicola Sturgeon.
“That ?brings the honours system into disrepute. But, more fundamentally, it exposes how broken the whole Westminster system is.”
The shadow cabinet secretary, Chris Matheson, also criticised the move, saying it would be a “spectacular act of desperation for Theresa May to be giving away knighthoods in a bid to win votes for her botched Brexit deal”.
He added: “This stinks of cronyism from the prime minister. We need to know if anything has been promised in exchange for this honour.”
Chris Green, a Conservative MP who followed the former Brexit…
