construction company Johnston International after its sale in 1999 until it went bankrupt in 2010, and that he concealed his continuing control. Ashcroft denied he owned Johnston after 1999, though he avoided answering questions about whether he continued to "control" it. Call Me Dave Ashcroft's book Call Me Dave: The unauthorised biography of David Cameron, published on 5 October 2015, has been criticised for containing content which lacks evidence. In addition to this, some commentators believe Ashcroft published the book to tarnish David Cameron's reputation. The book triggered the "Piggate" scandal with an allegation that a photograph exists which shows Cameron putting "a private part of his anatomy" into the mouth of a dead pig's severed head, which was positioned in the lap of another man. Honours On 31 March 2000, Ashcroft was appointed as a life peer, and the title Baron Ashcroft, of Chichester in the County of West Sussex was gazetted on 20 October 2000, the last creation of the millennium. His appointment to the House of Lords was controversial at the time, particularly because of his business and political interests in Belize; the body responsible for scrutiny of political honours had refused his becoming a member of the Lords one year earlier. He was nominated by Conservative party leader William Hague on the condition that he became a UK resident although at the beginning of 2010 he announced his "non-domiciled" tax status. Ashcroft had announced that he intended to take the title "Baron Ashcroft of Belize", a suggestion that infuriated his political opponents. He later said this had been a joke, and his title was created as simply "Baron Ashcroft". In the 2000 Birthday Honours, on the advice of the Belizean government, he was appointed Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George (KCMG) "for public service to the community and country" of Belize. In 1999, he was given the honorary degree of Doctor of the University by Anglia Ruskin University; he would be named chancellor of the university in 2001. He was chancellor for 20 years until 2021 and made significant contributions to the university. He was sworn in as a member of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom in 2012, entitling him to use the post-nominal letters "PC" for life. In December, he was appointed Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Holy Trinity by the Crown Council of Ethiopia.