"Moaners"

I find myself once again incredulous at the British honours system. How did Alan Sugar manage to become a Lord? Surely a man who believes that the best economic strategy in a recession is denial is not a particularly good champion of UK business. His computer empire was a household name in the late 1980s, but now seems to be pretty much nowhere.

Reading his Wikipedia entry all becomes clear.

"He is a philanthropist...and donated £200,000 to the British Labour Party in 2001. On 5 June 2009 it was reported that Sir Alan Sugar had been offered a peerage by British Prime Minister Gordon Brown"

This seems like a common design pattern amongst people who receive peerages.