A multimillionaire businessman and prominent supporter of Reform UK has joined the Free Speech Union (FSU) after facing an attempt to strip him of his OBE over a social media post about the Mayor of London.
The Honours Forfeiture Committee (‘the Committee’) first accused Charlie Mullins of “bringing the honours system into disrepute” in September, in relation to comments dating back to 2022.
In a formal letter, the Committee said it was “minded to recommend to His Majesty that your OBE be revoked.”
Mr Mullins, 72, the founder of Pimlico Plumbers, accused Sir Keir Starmer of orchestrating a political revenge attack on Monday night, after officials moved to strip him of the honour. The decision cited a social media post about Labour Mayor of London Sir Sadiq Khan, as well as offensive jokes made both online and in person.
Following extensive submissions by lawyers acting on Mr Mullins’ behalf, including a pledge to undertake “gender sensitivity and diversity training”, he was informed last week that no further action would be taken.
However, the Committee warned that he could face renewed investigation “should any future behaviour make that necessary”.
Writing in The Telegraph, Mr Mullins said he mounted a “strong response”, submitting a 52-page legal bundle rebutting the claims against him.
He argued that the Committee had underestimated his willingness to challenge the process, attributing this to what he called its “social arrogance” in assuming that “a couple of misjudged comments on social media – which I have apologised for – constituted bringing the honours system into disrepute.”
Mr Mullins said on Monday that his social media activity fell well short of the threshold for forfeiture and amounted to an attack on freedom of expression.
In an interview with The Telegraph, he said: “It’s definitely politically motivated. I’m being victimised because I left the UK and said I’m not playing the game with them any more.”
A self-made multimillionaire, Mr Mullins has donated tens of thousands of pounds to Reform UK and has previously discussed standing as a parliamentary candidate for the party with its leader, Nigel Farage.
In his op-ed, Mr Mullins said he had joined the FSU because, in his view, “you are expected to ‘toe the line’ or else pay the price of being attacked and cancelled by the self-appointed guardians of the truth”. He described the Committee as a “below-the-radar” body and claimed its investigation was a politically motivated attempt to punish him for expressing critical views about the Labour Party.
Mr Mullins said he had long since apologised for what he called “a few misjudged comments on social media,” but insisted these did not meet the threshold for revocation.
The real motive behind the attempt to remove his OBE, he suggested, was “lawful criticism of a government that has no idea what it’s doing.” He also alleged that he had recently been subject to repeated HMRC investigations, which he characterised as a form of state pressure.
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