Twice in the last 8 days a former Liberal Democrat Cabinet Minister has headed to the Palace to kneel before Prince Charles to formally receive their knighthood.
Last week it was the turn of Sir Danny Alexander, who said:
It was a great honour and a wonderful ceremony and it’s all rather humbling.
It was something I didn’t expect but it is a real honour to have the recognition for the work I did in the coalition government – turning the economy around and getting the country on the right track.
Today, Sir Vince Cable had his big day. The Yorkshire Post has the story:
Speaking at the palace, where the The Price of Wales knighted him for political and public service, Sir Vince said the British economy remains in a weak position in comparison to the US.
“Although on one level the UK appears to be a strong economy like the US, it clearly is not in such a strong position,” he said.
“I don’t think there is any expectation of the British following (the US in raising interest rates) in the near future.
“The fact they have made this forward move is obviously a sign of confidence in genuine recovery, but there are just so many things that could go wrong – if the Chinese growth turns out to be less than expected, or if the eurozone deteriorates.
“In the short term I am a pessimist. In the long term I am an optimist about growth.”
Nobody mentioned whether they’d had a chat with the Prince about confidential Cabinet papers…
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10 Comments
Blanchflower is all over the media. Hr thinks that the UK’s curent policy is wrong, and the US.
“turning the economy around and getting the country on the right track”. Sir D.A.
“Although on one level the UK appears to be a strong economy like the US, it clearly is not in such a strong position,” Sir V.C.
Well, we’re all agreed on that then……
This whole ”knighthood’ thing is a bit of an archaic joke, isn’t it?
Oh dear – we got trashed because we looked and sounded like establishment Tories…
Yes, Dan, but Benedict Cumberbatch got a knighthood too. The general public probably minds less than we do.
What the hell is Benedict Cumberbatch or Danny Alexander doing getting knighthoods? IMHo these are things given out to reward a lifetime of work not something to be handed out to those in the 30s and 40s. Sir Vince has certainly earned his knighthood, for example
Benedict Cumberbatch has NOT got a knighthood – though if he had, I’d object to it much less than the gongs given to Cable and Alexander.
I suppose they’ll get better seats in the restaurant.
Not impressed though and time we abolished such baubles for politicians.
quite funny really. the public reject them but the establishment gives them a consolation prize
meaningless to most
I’ve no problem with knights but they ought to be swashbuckling and occasionally errant, otherwise what’s the point of it all?