Mark Lowcock who spends £12BN of YOUR cash on baffling foreign aid projects is knighted
LEADING civil servant Mark Lowcock is to be awarded a knighthood for “public service” as part of the Government’s New Year’s Honours list despite having wasted £285million of taxpayers’ cash on an airport where planes cannot land because it is too windy.
Sir Mark Lowcock, who is paid £165,000-a-year salary to head up the Department for International Development, has been included in the Honours list even though he has attracted widespread criticism in recent weeks.
Mr Lowcock has come under fire from ministers on the Commons Public Accounts Committee (PAC) earlier this month for his decision to build an airport on remote South Atlantic island St Helena, which was found to be unsuitable for commercial flights due to weather condition.
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MPs blasted the well-paid politician and claimed his department’s airport project “unquestionably failed” the British taxpayer and that “staggering” errors were made by Lowcock’s department when commissioning the costly project.
A PAC report said: "It is staggering that the department did not foresee and address the impact of difficult wind conditions on landing commercial aircraft safely.”
If squandering billions of pounds on greedy consultants and corrupt countries, and having the highest paid staff in the Civil Service gets you a knighthood these days, then God help us
And following the epic blunder, Chancellor Philip Hammond called for a review into the way Lowcock’s department spends its huge £12billion annual foreign aid budget, which is 0.7 per cent of the national income.
But despite Lowcock’s error, he looks set to be given a knighthood.
Tory MP Philip Davies hit out at the decision, claiming Mr Lowcock should be known as Sir Waste-a-Lot for the inefficient way his department is run.
Mr Davies said: “He certainly hasn’t been knighted for services to the UK taxpayer. If squandering billions of pounds on greedy consultants and corrupt countries, and having the highest paid staff in the Civil Service gets you a knighthood these days, then God help us.
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“It certainly detracts from the other very deserving people on the list.”
Labour MP John Mann, a leading campaigner for reform of the honours system, told The Telegraph the list was "more reward for failure, an irritation that needs preventing in the future".
The New Year’s Honours List 2017 has awarded knighthoods to sportspeople including Mo Farah and Andy Murray, as well as dames to Jessica Ennis-Hill and Katherine Grainger.
Veteran comedian Ken Dodd, 89 was knighted, while Victoria Beckham was awarded an OBE.
Tory Donor David Ord, who awarded the Tory party £930,000 is set to be knighted for “political service”, while fifteen knighthoods went to officials at the Home Office, where Theresa May worked for six years.