the times | Monday January 3 2022 15News
All former prime ministers should be
knighted as Sir Tony Blair was, the
Speaker of the Commons has said.
Sir Lindsay Hoyle backed the
Queen’s decision to appoint Blair to the
Order of the Garter after a 14-year wait.
Blair’s appointment as a Knight
Companion followed months of specu-
lation over why it took her so long to
confer the honour.
The appointment, which is in the
personal gift of the Queen, has regular-
ly been bestowed upon past prime min-
isters. Sir John Major, Blair’s predeces-
sor, was the last to receive the honour.
Hoyle called for the honour to begiven to all former prime ministers,
including David Cameron, because
occupying No 10 was “one of the tough-
est jobs in the world”.
He told Toda y on BBC Radio 4: “It is
respectful and it is the right thing to do,
whether it is to Tony Blair or to David
Cameron. They should all be offered
that knighthood when they finish as
prime minister. I would say if you’veKnight all former prime ministers, says Speaker
Lords in his government, and the
Duchess of Cornwall. The order, found-
ed in 1348, is confined to a maximum of
24 commoners at any time.
Hoyle’s position of the Speaker has
traditionally resulted in a peerage on
retirement. The government declined
to nominate Hoyle’s predecessor, John
Bercow, when he left the Commons in- He was nominated instead by
Jeremy Corbyn, then Labour leader.
His ennoblement ran aground
because of ongoing investigations into
allegations of bullying, which Bercow
vehemently denies. Hoyle called for
Bercow to be nominated despite rows
over his handling of Brexit debates.
New year knights, letters, page 24
been prime minister of this country...
the country should recognise the
service they’ve given.”
None of the prime ministers who suc-
ceeded Blair — Gordon Brown, Camer-
on or Theresa May — has received an
honour. Hoyle, who first won his Chor-
ley seat in 1997 as part of Blair’s land-
slide, said: “It is not about politics, it is
about the position they have held in this
country... and it’s the respect that we
show to those people who’ve led this
country. And I think it’s a fitting tribute
to the job they’ve carried out.”
Blair, who left Downing Street in
2007, was one of three appointments to
the Order of the Garter, alongside
Baroness Amos, leader of the House ofHenry Zeffman Sir Lindsay Hoyle
won his seat in the
1997 Blair landslideunder scrutiny
woman said: “Nobody should doubt
that Ofcom acts with complete
independence. Industry experience is
vital to strong regulation and our
content board is made up of experts
from a range of commercial, media and
telecoms backgrounds, including news-
papers, Channel 4, Sky, tech platforms
and the BBC.”
Dorries will hold final talks with BBC
bosses to determine the level of the
licence fee over the next five years, with
a deal expected to be reached by the
end of this month. It is anticipated that
the £159 television licence will be held
below inflation, but could rise towards
the end of the charter at the end of 2027.
It adds up to a real-terms cut in funding.Boris Johnson faces another wait to
unveil his levelling up white paper as
Downing Street prepares for the start of
this year to be dominated again by
coronavirus.
The government had hoped that the
document of more than 100 pages,
marking the first attempt to flesh out
the prime minister’s slogan, would be its
first big intervention of the year.
The paper, being written by Michael
Gove, the secretary for housing, com-
munities and levelling up, is now more
likely to be published later this month.
Johnson promised last May that it
would be published by the end of the
year. It emerged in December, how-
ever, that the white paper had slipped
back to this year.
Gove, now in his sixth cabinet posi-
tion since becoming education secre-
tary in 2010, was handed the task of
taking charge of the prime minister’s
key domestic drive in the reshuffle last
September. He was given the renamed
and expanded role of levelling up
secretary.
He has clashed with Rishi Sunak, the
chancellor, over whether any new
money should be available for the agen-
da, leaving officials trying to develop
plans within the existing government
budgets.
Gove’s department was given a
real-terms budget increase in the
October spending review but the
£4.8 billion levelling-up fund was left
untouched.
Johnson held talks with Gove
about the paper at Chequers
over the festive period, The
Sunday Times reported.
A Whitehall source told
the newspaper: “There
are some bold policies in
there on how to make
tangible change to com-
munities and transform
town centres in places
that have been under-
valued and over-
looked for years.”
Last month The
Times revealed that
a major expansion
of local mayors was
at the heart of Gove’sNews
Levelling up to
wait as No 10
confronts Covid
plans, with an ambition for every region
in England to have a local leader by the
end of the decade with powers equiva-
lent to those held by Sadiq Khan, the
mayor of London.
Residents of some rural areas, where
the term mayor is deemed inappropri-
ate, could elect governors instead. Gove
told The Spectator magazine recently
that he liked the idea of an elected
governor of Wiltshire.
He has identified an absence of local
empowerment as a core reason for
regional disparities. Whitehall sources
say that the UK is one of the most cen-
tralised major economies. Top-down
government has failed to utilise local
knowledge and meant that policy can
often benefit commuters or recent
arrivals in a local area rather than its
long-term residents.
London has had mayors since 2000
but a new generation of Conservative
mayors, such as Ben Houchen in Tees
Valley and Andy Street in the West
Midlands, has helped some in govern-
ment come round to the idea of further
devolution.
Gove wants the devolution deals to
cover areas with a strong identity and
community, which in practice means
many will be county deals. Any area
negotiating devolved powers will have
to have a population of at least
500,000. Another idea being
considered by Gove is a statu-
tory levelling-up quango,
which would monitor every
aspect of government policy
for its impact on regional
inequalities. It would mon-
itor the progress of
levelling up against
a series of core
missions, such as
improving living
standards and
boosting local
pride. The over-
sight body
would take
inspiration
from the
Office for
Budget
Respon-
sibility,
which
was set
up to pro-
vide inde-
pendent analysis of
the public finances.Henry ZeffmanM
att Hancock and his
partner, Gina
Coladangelo, are the
latest political figures
to be dragged into the
row over a “cheese and wine”
gathering at No 10 during the first
lockdown (Will Humphries writes).
Hancock, health secretary at the
time, is expected to be questioned by
Sue Gray, the senior civil servant
who is investigating whether Covid-19 restrictions were broken by
ministers and staff at a series of
alleged parties. Coladangelo is said
to have indicated that she is
prepared to be interviewed.
Boris Johnson was pictured with
wine and cheese beside his wife and
up to 17 staff in the Downing Street
garden during lockdown last year.
The Mail on Sunday has alleged
that Hancock and Coladangelo are
pictured at the top of the leakedphoto. No 10 has denied that there
was a social event on May 15, 2020.
They insisted that it had been a
work meeting.
The picture shows wine and
suggests social distancing was not
observed. At the time social
mixing between households was
limited to two people. At work,
meetings were allowed in person
only if “absolutely necessary”.
On the same day, Hancock told a
press conference that people
should follow the rules and not
socialise outside. “You can meet
one other person from outside
your household in an outdoor,
public place. But please keep two
metres apart,” he said.
Coladangelo was an adviser to
Hancock, who is married with
three children. The affair emerged
13 months later when leaked
CCTV showed them kissing.
A source close to Hancock told
the paper that the garden event
was “a long time before anything
happened between” the couple.
The source said: “It’s impossible
to say with any certainty who the
blurred figures in the photo are.
“Ms Coladangelo was part of the
team that accompanied Mr
Hancock to the Downing Street
press conference that day. After
the press conference finished at
5.53pm, Mr Hancock’s team went
to the garden to debrief the prime
minister. Ms Coladangelo left with
Mr Hancock and other members
of his team at 6.32pm.”
Seven lockdown-breaking
gatherings could have taken place
across Whitehall in November and
December 2020. Gray’s inquiry
will look at a gathering on
December 18 that involved cheese,
wine and music and a reported
leaving event on November 27 said
to have been attended by Johnson.
Sajid Javid, the present health
secretary, has said that Gray will
be free to investigate other events.
Gray has emailed more than a
dozen people and one source told
The Times that those asked for
formal interviews were “pissing
themselves”.It is alleged that
Matt Hancock
and Gina
Coladangelo are
both among the
group at the top
left of the picture
of the garden
at No 10N 10 h deniedthatthereMichael Gove is in his sixth
cabinet post since he became
education secretary in 2010 GUARDIAN/EYEVINE; PHIL NOBLE/REUTERS