London, Mar 2 (ANI): Former UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown apparently blocked an honorary knighthood for Apple founder Steve Jobs.
The then-Prime Minister refused to knight Jobs in 2009 because he turned down an invitation to speak at the Labour Party conference, said a former senior Labour MP.
The MP for services to technology had put Jobs forward for the honour.
"Apple has been the only major global company to create stunning consumer products because it has always taken design as the key component of everything it has produced," the Telegraph quoted the former MP, who left Parliament at the last election, as saying.
"No other CEO has consistently shown such a commitment," he said.
Apple was aware of the proposal and it reached the final stages of approval but was rejected by Downing Street, he said.
Jobs was snubbed despite the 2005 award of an honorary knighthood to Bill Gates, the founder of Microsoft and a long-term rival. His friend Bono, the U2 front man, who collaborated with Apple on a special charity edition iPod, is also an honorary KBE.
The former MP was told by Downing Street that the decision was related to a failed attempt to attract Jobs to Labour's annual conference. Given his status as a superstar of business and technology, such an appearance would have been viewed as a coup for Brown.
However, a spokeswoman for the former Prime Minister said, "Mr Brown did not block a knighthood for Steve Jobs". (ANI)
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