When is a story not a story?

I’ve noticed a lot of moaning over the last few days in response to the 2016 New Year Honours List, more than usual in fact.
 
I’ve also noticed that none of the chief protestors have a gong themselves – funny that.
 
If asked if they would like a gong, they would of course say no, never, not on your nelly.
 
As the whiff of apparent Tory cronyism wafts across Great Britain, the sweet smell of sour grapes gathers pace close behind.
 
Is a knighthood for Lynton Crosby, for example, right and proper or a little too self-serving of the Prime Minister?
 
Lynton was the brains behind the Tory election victory apparently. If that’s the case, and Mr Cameron should know, then he is a leader in his field at a national level – a key requirement for a top gong. Some would argue that he actually deserves more than a KBE for what he managed to achieve although it doesn’t get much better than a K.
 
The reality is that the incumbent PM of the day gets to pick a few people he likes for a gong. That applies to leaders from all political parties.
 
Let’s put that in to perspective. About 1200 people received a gong at New Year. In that list were perhaps a dozen or so contentious choices who may have been shoed in by the political elite. The numbers are small and those dozen or so contentious choices haven’t robbed a dozen more worthy people of their just desserts because the maximum allocation for a List is about 1300, so there was room for more.
 
So, once this issue of cronyism is put in to context, it’s well, a non-issue.
 
Here’s an interview I did on BBC Radio London on New Year’s Eve which touches on this non-issue on what was a quiet news day: