With the increasing signs that Robert Mugabe is prepared to do anything to hold on to power in Zimbabwe, Liberal Democrat Shadow Foreign Secretary, Edward Davey has called on the Government to revoke Robert Mugabe’s honorary Knighthood.

He has written to the Cabinet Secretary, Gus O’Donnell, who chairs the Forfeiture Committee, to ask him to consider this urgently.

Commenting, Edward Davey said:

“The British public will be shocked and outraged that Robert Mugabe still retains a knighthood. This shows not only his own hypocrisy, given his criticisms of the UK, but also how slow Britain has been to use what little power we have against this tyrant.

“Frankly, John Major’s Government should never have given Mugabe a Knighthood in the first place, given that the honour was bestowed after the atrocities his regime committed in Matabeleland.

“We must revoke this honour, not only for the integrity of our own honours system, but also to send the message that the British people will stand shoulder to shoulder with the Zimbabwean people.”