Celebrate Tim Peake – but don’t forget the ridiculous choices that expose the truth about our honours system

From heads of immigration removal centres and Tory party donors to the No.10 Downing Street Facilities Manager, this year’s selections left a lot to be desired

Major Timothy Peake has been awarded a CMG for services to space research and scientific education (PA)

The highlight of the Queen's Birthday Honours list is without a doubt the CMG being awarded to Major Timothy Peake for services to space research and scientific education. Awards in the Most Distinguished Order of St Michael and St George are for service rendered in a foreign country, and Tim Peake will be the first to be honoured as a British representative in space. He will accept his award from the Queen via a special phone linked to the International Space Station.

Excitement over the event will be a relief for the organisers of the honours list after recent controversies. Currently, backbench Tory MPs are calling for the Honours Forfeiture Committee remove retail giant Sir Philip Green’s knighthood over the managed decline of BHS. Last year, the knighthood awarded to Tory election chief Sir Lynton Crosby – reportedly the architect of “dog-whistle” politics – caused outrage. It seemed as if all you needed to do was get hired for a prestigious political role by one of your boys’ club mates and then, whatever you were accused of, you’d eventually get off scot-free with a handsome salary and a knighthood to boot.

Hiding behind the extension of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s administrative areas to space, there are some controversial choices on the new list, proving that it’s struggling to break the nepotistic habit of a lifetime.

First up there’s an OBE for Mike Chattery, head of fundraising for the Conservative Party (yes, really). As with Sir Lynton Crosby, it seems suspiciously like doing your job effectively is all it takes if you’re a certain kind of person. Meanwhile, everyone else who manages their own career just fine is waiting for the moment they get national recognition for sorting out the filing cabinet.

Sir Peter Wood, founder of the insurance company Direct Line, is being awarded a knighthood for services to UK industry and philanthropy. Wood is a Tory party donor who gave Leader of the House Chris Grayling £71,000 to run his office in 2010, when he was shadow Home Secretary.

Karen Abdel-Hady is being awarded the Order of the British Empire for services to immigration detainees. As head of detention operations, she was in situ when 84-year-old Canadian Alois Dvorzac died in handcuffs while waiting deportation. At the time she told the inquest into his death: “I think we should have been more involved in escalating it more”. How exactly one can escalate beyond a prisoner’s death is yet to be worked out by anyone.

Then there’s the bizarre backslapping for the Department for Work and Pensions and the disastrous Universal Credit programme. Programme director Ian Wright and implementation managers Tim Mazzucchi and Keith Watson have all been awarded OBEs for services to DWP and to the community. Not only has the programme been condemned this week by Citizens Advice Scotland as its built-in payment delay is causing vulnerable claimants to fall into debt and rent arrears; it has also been found that families will face a highter rate of tax and benefit withdrawal by the Equity Trust. Even if you disagree with the impact of the welfare "reform", the project management has left much wanting. The system has been pushed back several times as ministers tried to grapple with complex IT systems. It’s been acknowledged by right-wing and left-wing campaigners as a disastrous failure. But great work, everyone – here’s an OBE.

Then there is the downright silly: Alfred John Smith, facilities manager at 10 Downing Street has been awarded an OBE for “services to No.10”. All you need to do for an honour, it seems, is to keep the loo roll topped up in David Cameron’s bathroom. No one’s saying it’s a mean feat, but facilities managers across the country didn’t stand a chance; it seems Smith was a shoo-in merely because of his proximity to the PM.

All of the above detracts from those truly deserving of public recognition on this year’s list – people such as Jane Allison Hart, Macmillan Lead Cancer nurse; Shaista Gohir MBE, trustee and chair of the Muslim Women’s Network; Margaret Ann Bersey, social worker; and Ian Richard for services to his community in Norwich, along with the rest of the 70 per cent of people on the list who have been awarded honours for their work in the community.

In order to keep the spirit of public recognition of unsung heroes, the honours system should exclude the civil service and those with links to the main political parties – otherwise, receiving an honour becomes decidedly dishonourable.