Oil boss withdraws from 'Cameron's cronies' honours list

A businessman reportedly in line for a knighthood in David Cameron's resignation honours list has said he does not want his name to go forward.

Ian Taylor, the chief executive of Vitol, said speculation about the award had been accompanied by "seriously inaccurate comments" about his company.

"Press coverage has centred on how Vitol, the world's largest independent oil trader, operated in Libya and Iraq, and the levels of corporation tax that it has paid," reports the Financial Times.

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The BBC says Vitol was heavily fined in 2007 after it admitted making payments to Iraq's national oil company that were outside the remit of the UN oil for food programme.

Taylor is a Conservative Party donor and also contributed to the EU Remain campaign. He began contributing to the Tories because he admired former leader David Cameron's strong support for the EU, the Daily Mail says. "Ironically, Taylor's Vitol Oil company has side-stepped EU rules because, as it's based in Switzerland, it is beyond the reach of the Brussels bureaucrats," adds the paper.

Yesterday, it emerged the body which advises on the granting of titles had rejected Cameron's separate nomination of former Tory treasurer Michael Spencer for a peerage because of what the Daily Telegraph calls "lingering concerns about the Libor scandal, when his firm Icap was fined £55 million by regulators".

The Daily Mirror says the "honours for cronies" controversy has descended into farce, while The Guardian believes there is "an intensifying row" over the list that shows no sign of abating.

The paper adds that Prime Minister Theresa May's allies have tried to disassociate her "by signalling she would do things different from her predecessor when it comes to handing out honours".

Insiders now expect May to "make a statement" when it is her time to make nominations for the New Year's Honours list "and reserve them for unsung heroes", says The Sun.

Gong but not forgotten – Cameron's pro-Remain honours list

01 August

Former prime minister David Cameron's leaked resignation honours list, in which Remain campaigners feature prominently, has sparked outrage and disbelief.

An exclusive in yesterday's the Sunday Times revealed that nominees include four cabinet ministers, two Conservative Party donors and Will Straw, the son of Labour grandee Jack and the director of the unsuccessful Britain Stronger in Europe campaign.

Ex-chancellor George Osborne is in line to become a companion of honour while there is an OBE for Samantha Cameron's stylist, Isabel Spearman.

"I'm surprised Larry [the Downing Street cat] is not in there," said one Whitehall insider.

The revelations prompted almost universal criticism in the press. A Sunday Times editorial called the list "more than a little odd" and said it "risks dragging down again the reputation of an honours system that cannot afford to sink much further".

Cameron's decision only to reward Remainers underlines political divisions that are unhelpful and out of date, the Daily Telegraph says. The list casts "an unfortunate shadow on the legacy of a man who deserves to be remembered for much more".

The former PM's fondness for a "'chumocracy' composed largely of well-bred acquaintances" is exposed by the latest revelations, says The Guardian. The paper calls for "a return to first principles, restoring public confidence in a devalued system" it describes as "an odd mix of personal patronage, political expediency and bureaucratic convenience".

"An array of flops, lickspittles, time-servers and nonentities will soon be the proud beneficiaries of gongs," writes Isabel Oakeshott in the Daily Mail, who wonders why former Ukip leader Nigel Farage - "the man who has done more than any other individual to get Britain out of the EU" - is not on the list.

The Sun goes even further in its criticism and says: "If a way can't be found to keep honours for people who have done something of substance [...] then it's time the whole thing was scrapped."