In defence of Stanley Johnson’s knighthood

The news that Boris Johnson intends to give his father Stanley a knighthood fails to send me into an uncontrollable fury. I admit that I initially baulked at the appointment, but it now leaves me quite inert.

I cannot fathom, try as I might, the anger of professional uplifters and guardians of public morality who protest that a father cannot receive an honour from his son. A Prime Minister, or in this case a former one, is entitled to bestow honours, with certain caveats, on anyone he or she chooses.

There is a long history in this country of ennobling relatives. Our monarchs have been doing it for the past 500 years and are still at it today, raising sons or cousins to Earldoms and Dukedoms. Were the proposed honouree a proven scoundrel or the holder of a criminal record, there would be justifiable cause for complaint.