Lord Young, the government's enterprise adviser, who was made a Companion of Honour last week, almost missed out on his New Year's gong.
The letter inviting him to accept the award was delayed.
"They sent it to the wrong address," he explained, "to the temporary office address. I assumed I wasn't going to get anything, I wasn't expecting it
"Three weeks later, I got an email from Number 10 asking if I intended to decline, and to let them know within 24 hours. I responded quite quickly."
Since he pops into Downing Street every day, it would have been easier to hand it to him in person.
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