What did Will Straw do to deserve his gong? It’s a mystery which has baffled many - including Mr. S - ever since Straw was handed a CBE for leading the ‘Stronger In’ campaign to a resounding defeat in the referendum. Straw's inclusion on David Cameron's resignation honours list was labelled a ‘joke’, while others said it was a clear reward for failure. So the appearance of the head honcho of the Remain campaign at a select committee today seemed like a perfect opportunity for Straw to finally shed some light on what he did to deserve those three letters after his name.

Alas, even Straw himself isn’t sure why he got the gong. When asked by Labour’s Paul Flynn how he was ‘enjoying his role as a commander of the British Empire’ and how the empire was ‘faring’ under his command, Straw had this to say:

“ 'I don't know why I was given the reward. I didn’t ask for the award, but when I was offered it I wasn’t going to turn it down, not least because I had been - as campaigners on both sides of this campaign had been - away from my family for a lot of the campaign and I wanted to have an occasion to take my wife to the palace as we will be doing in the near future and to have something to remember the hard work that I and others put into the campaign.’

If spending time away from one's family is now a qualifying factor for gongs, expect an even longer honours list next time around.