Is it about misrepresenting yourself?

For example... Most people who become PhD's will change their title to 'Dr'. How come? You are more likely to be upgraded to business class on an aircraft... You get better service more generally.

On an aircraft you are typically asked (before boarding) whether you are a 'Medical Doctor', however. That is your chance to say 'No - I'm not a Medical Doctor so don't rely on me in the case of a medical emergency!'. Not to make that clear would be misrepresenting yourself.

If a person has a PhD in Economics and ends up running a music school and lists their qualification as 'PhD' then in the interests of not misleading one would think they should make it clear that their PhD is in an UNRELATED field.

I don't know what this guy did to get his honorary degree. If it is related to social work then I think it is fair of him to list his qualification. If it isn't related then I guess I'd agree that he is misrepresenting himself.