Six other cabinet members were approved withoutobjections, including Janet Napolitano for homeland security, Steven Chu (energy), Arne Duncan (education) and Ken Salazar (interior).
American and Commonwealth servicemen who fought alongside the Russians or were on Arctic convoys have received Ushakov Medals withoutobjections from their governments but no British citizen has been able to receive the honour.
Without any objections forthcoming, it was left to Andy Burnham, then a junior health minister, to sign off the relevant paper work and pass the application off to Monitor, the body that makes the final decision on FT status.