The Times political cartoonist Peter Brookes pledges his pen remains as sharp as ever after being appointed CBE in the New Year’s honours list.

Multi award-winning Brookes, 73, becomes a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) for services to the media.

The former RAF pilot, in his current role for 25 years, said: “I hesitated before deciding to accept the honour, but it does illustrate the importance of free speech.

“I am glad to live in a country that recognises cartoonists in this particular way. There will be those who wonder whether Theresa May and others can justifiably say ‘we have got him now’. My feeling is very much that they haven’t. I am not going to stop hitting hard.

“If I was supporting any one party in my cartoons, it would have been a different matter as to whether I accepted or not, but I criticise and satirise all of them, which makes my decision non-political really.

“I link the award to my age. I think of it as a nice marker in the winter of my days. Having said that, I’m as keen as ever to come into the office on a daily basis. I’m as motivated and as interested as ever.”

The murder of the journalists at Charlie Hebdo satirical magazine in Paris for parodying the Prophet Muhammad brought home the potential dangers of his craft.

Brookes highlighted the contrast between his honour and the treatment of Atena Farghadani, 28, who has been jailed in Iran for 12 years for posting a cartoon in protest at legislation to restrict birth control and to make divorce more difficult.

He said: “She has been jailed for doing the sort of drawing I do three or four times a week.

“It’s an important reason why I was happy to accept the award. The establishment gives out the awards, but that doesn’t mean you are one of them.”

Blackheath-based Brookes, a six-time winner of the Cartoonist of the Year award, has been satirising politicians and public figures for The Times since 1992.

Last year saw a rich vein of material for Brookes with the Brexit vote, Thersea May becoming Prime Minister and Donald Trump’s success in the USA presidential race.

Brookes said: “2016 was a fantastic year for me material-wise. It’s a bit ironic but the grimmer things are in the world, the happier I am professionally.

“There’s no such thing as doing a cartoon in praise of something or someone. You are reacting against something and there’s been plenty to react against.”

QPR football fan Brookes starts his working day by listening to the Today programme on Radio 4 and reading the newspapers.

He attends the editorial morning conference at The Times and begins producing his pictures in watercolour, pen and ink in the afternoon. Each takes several hours and is delivered at around 7.30pm.

• Celebrated conflict photographer Don McCullin, 81, who spent 20 years working for The Sunday Times Magazine from the 1960s, received a knighthood in the honours list.