This article first appeared in the iNewspaper
Our honours system is one of our great British institutions, yet if it is to survive in a meaningful way it needs to retain the respect and interest of all of us.
Unfortunately, it continues to be devalued by the award of honours to people who don’t deserve one. An honour should be given on merit, not through a mentality of “Buggins’ Turn”, or a reward for long service, or even a reward for failure.
Honours should be about excellence, and it is time some of the honours should be renamed. The British Empire ceased to exist many decades ago, so why do so many of our honours have the word “Empire” in their name?
I’m proud of our history, but an honours system which resides in the past has no future. The Order of British Excellence surely has far more resonance in 2025 than the Order of the British Empire.
A friend of mine was awarded an OBE some years ago. He’d done nothing in particular to merit it, beyond holding the same job and doing it adequately for a long time. I ribbed him, saying it stood for “Other Buggers’ Efforts”. This sort of award happens far too often, especially among civil servants.
The main thing that undermines the honours system, however, is the seemingly incessant awarding of honours for failure.
Gareth Southgate has been awarded a knighthood. Yes, he’s been the best England manager in years. Yes, he’s a nice man. But in the end, what has he won? Nothing as a manager and a mere two League Cups as a player. Sir Alf Ramsey won the World Cup as England manager. He deserved his knighthood. He earned it. Call me a New Year’s Grinch if you like, but has Sir Gareth really earned this?
Business people and public servants who excel at their jobs should indeed be awarded honours. This year’s recipients include Andrew Haines, chief executive of Network Rail. Delays to rail services have reportedly increased from 9.2 million minutes to 15.2 million minutes per year since he took over. Fines for safety failures have also risen. I could go on. Awarding him a knighthood is risible.
Political awards always provoke howls of outrage and derision and this year is no different. How did former Labour MP Kate Hollern manage to bag a CBE for parliamentary, political and public service?
She was an MP for a mere nine years before losing in July’s election. Before that, in 2021, she stepped down from frontline politics after accusations that she attempted to isolate a parliamentary worker who had made allegations of sexual harassment against Mike Hill, the former and disgraced Labour MP.
I don’t begrudge Emily Thornberry her damehood. She should be in the Cabinet, but should a damehood be used by the Prime Minister as a consolation prize?
Honours should reward exceptional performance in a person’s field of expertise, and let’s celebrate all those who have deservedly been given honours this year. There are plenty of famous people who deserve their awards – Keeley Hodgkinson, Stephen Fry, Sarah Lancashire, Nick Gibb, Andy Street, and, yes, Sadiq Khan come to mind.
On my LBC radio show on Monday night I asked my listeners to phone in and nominate unsung heroes from their local communities for an honour. It was an uplifting hour of radio. It’s people like this who deserve more awards in honours lists and it is so easy to make it happen.
If these awards are to continue to mean anything in the future, the whole system needs a shake-up.