If you want UK honour, its help if you’re in with Tories

It does not come as a shock or surprise that 30 Tory Party members or supporters have received awards. The Tories have used the honours system yet again to reward cronies.

Lynton Crosby is receiving a knighthood. He was paid £500,000 for being Tory election coordinator, during which he successfully directed their general election strategy, resulting in an unexpected overall majority for David Cameron. Analysis of the list shows that the future Sir Lynton is just one of many who have been honoured not for what they had done for the country, but for their services to the Conservative Party.

Another Tory to receive a knighthood is Henry Bellingham, an old Etonian who has been an MP for 32 years. Two officials working for the Scottish Conservatives received the CBE – Mark McInnes, director of the Scottish Conservatives since 2003, and James Stewart, who was a director of a London equity firm when he became treasurer of the Scottish Tories in 2012.

Lyndon Jones, a leading figure in the Welsh Conservative Party, has been awarded an MBE, as has Christopher Fenwick. His award for “political service” refers to his former role as Deputy Chairman of the United and Cecil Club, which raises hundreds of thousands of pounds a year for the Tories.

The latest “honours list” shows official politics is a rich man’s game, determined solely by the demands of the major corporations, in which working people have no say and are invariably the losers. The rewarding of Tory donors is a product of the demand of capital for an even greater exploitation of labour for the benefit of the financial elite.

Alan Hinnrichs

Gillespie Terrace, Dundee

I am absolutely appalled and disgusted by Scottish Television, an organisation supposed to be free from political bias, hosting a show on New Year’s Eve with actress Elaine C Smith, who campaigned for Scottish independence, and First Minister Nicola Sturgeon. This is not a Hogmanay show, it is a party political broadcast for the SNP. Scottish people have been subjected to this propaganda all year round. Do we really need to have this at Hogmanay?

I intend to find out if there is a regulator to complain to about this. This is political bias at its worst. STV, shame on you – can you not think of anything better to put on at Hogmanay?

Gordon Kennedy

Simpson Square, Perth