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. He added: “This stinks of cronyism from the prime minister. May was critical of the former prime minister, David Cameron, for handing out numerous honours as he left office in 2016. Responding to the allegations against May on Friday, a Downing Street spokesman highlighted that Hayes had said he remained undecided on the deal. Hayes had not responded to the Guardian’s request for comment but was quoted by the Sun as saying: “I still need a lot of persuading to vote for this [May’s Brexit deal].”

Source: The Guardian November 23, 2018 21:36 UTC