BETTER Together’s single biggest donor is in line for a knighthood after David Cameron included him in a list of 48 aides, allies and Conservative Party funders in his resignation honours list.

Ian Taylor, chief executive of oil trading firm Vitol, was revealed as the No campaign’s biggest financial backer after he gave the Tory, Labour and Liberal Democrat alliance more than £500,000.

Yesterday, a leaked list of a nominations honours list revealed that Cameron requested knighthoods for Taylor and fellow Conservative donor Andrew Cook.

They are among 48 people named by the former prime minister in his resignation honours list which was obtained by the Sunday Times yesterday.

Cameron also put forward four Cabinet ministers Philip Hammond, Michael Fallon, David Lidington and Patrick McLoughlin – all of whom backed the Remain case in the European Union referendum – for knighthoods and even nominated his wife Samantha’s stylist, Isabel Spearman, for an OBE.

His honours’ nominations come in addition to the peerages he has been tipped to hand to close aides such as Gabby Bertin, his external affairs director at No 10, and his director of operations, Liz Sugg.

But there have been suggestions the list is being held up because Whitehall officials raised “ethical concerns” over several nominees. Downing Street has insisted no timetable has been set. Last night the SNP MSP James Dornan hit out at the honours’ revelations.

“This just highlights how truly ridiculous the honours system has become – with knighthoods handed out by a departing prime minister as a form of personal patronage and reward to his donors, aides and MPs,” he said.

“Reports that the honours have been held up due to ethical concerns over some of the nominees are particularly striking and cast even further doubt over David Cameron’s judgement.

“Mr Cameron may think that he’s able to sneak these out while departing for the backbenches but it’s only right that these nominations come under very serious scrutiny.”

Taylor’s donation to Better Together was mired in controversy because of concerns about a number of business dealings by Vitol, the world’s largest oil trading company.

After the £500,000 donation was made public, the former first minister Alex Salmond called on Better Together to return it – but Better Together said it was a “valid donation” that would be retained.

Salmond said at the time: “The problem is the range of activities which is suggested that the company have been involved in. I think the Better Together campaign should examine this and return the money in the same way as the Labour Party argued that the Conservatives should return the money when a donation was made to them.”

Better Together campaign director Jackie Baillie said at the time she did not have a problem accepting Taylor’s money. This is a valuable donation which we will put to good use,” she said.

Scottish LibDem leader Willie Rennie also defended the use of Taylor’s money.

In 2001, The Observer revealed the firm paid $1 million to Serbian war criminal Arkan to sort out an oil deal with the regime of Slobodan Milosevic which had turned sour. Vitol said no illegal conduct was involved in this transaction.

In 2007, Vitol pled guilty in a New York court to paying surcharges to Iraq’s national oil company during Saddam Hussein’s regime, undermining the UN oil-for-food programme in Iraq. It paid fines, restitution and costs totalling $17.5m.

Proud of his Scots family roots but raised and educated in England, Taylor spoke of his pride at putting more than £500,000 into the No campaign, saying he had been “delighted to help”. Writing in the Sunday Herald, he said the donation to Better Together followed a meeting he had with Alistair Darling who was heading the anti-independence case.

Taylor later gave £30,000 to the campaign group for people in the rest of the UK who wanted Scotland to remain in the Union. He gave the cash to Let’s Stay Together, the group behind a film showing celebrities such as Ross Kemp calling on Scots to vote “No” in September 2014.

Last night, when asked to comment on the report that Taylor was in line for a knighthood, a spokeswoman for the Cabinet Office said: “We don’t comment on leaked documents.”

No one from Vitol returned phone calls made by The National.

A FORMER senior Scottish Conservative press aide is among those nominated for an honour in the list drawn up by David Cameron.

According to the names obtained by The Sunday Times yesterday, Ramsay Jones – an ex Number 10 aide who has worked for both Ruth Davidson and former Scottish Tory leader Annabel Goldie – is being tipped for a CBE by Cameron in his resignation honours list.

Jones was a long-serving member of the Scottish Conservatives press team, but in October 2011 was suspended from his role as the party's media director amid claims he attended a campaign event for one of the candidates in the leadership election being held at the time.

It was suggested he broke party rules by attending a meeting at Davidson’s home when he was expected to remain neutral in the contest, in which Margaret Mitchell, Jackson Carlaw and Murdo Fraser were also running. However, after her win Davidson reinstated Jones, who later moved to Number 10.

Fellow Scot Craig Oliver is also in line for a top honour.

Oliver, a former BBC journalist, was nominated for a knighthood after serving as David Cameron’s director of communications for five years. He was appointed in 2011 following the resignation of Andy Coulson, the former editor of the News of the World, amid continued media coverage of the paper’s phone-hacking controversy. Coulson was later jailed for 18 months for his part in the scandal.