A few years ago a list of over 300 names of people who had turned down honours was leaked to the Times. They included Danny Boyle, Stephen Hawking, Dawn French, Glenda Jackson, Peter Capaldi, Gordon Brown and Polly Toynbee. L S Lowry holds the record with five refusals - you’d think they would have got the message. There is even a slim list of those who have sent their honours back in protest at something or another eg John Lennon.
With the growing public awareness of Black Lives Matter and Britain’s shameful legacy of slavery from its imperial past, the use of the term ‘Empire’ in some of these awards has gained a sharper focus. Another famous decliner, poet Benjamin Zephaniah has said: “It reminds me of slavery, it reminds me of thousands of years of brutality, it reminds me of how my foremothers were raped and my forefathers brutalised.”
When George V created the Order of the British Empire in 1917 the empire encompassed more than 412 million people, almost a quarter of the world’s population, and covered a quarter of its land mass. The order was created to fill a gap in the honours system and to reward civilians for war work, particularly in munitions production, transport, community and voluntary endeavour, and was given out across the empire. It was an appropriate title in the sense it did reflect the fact the empire was very much involved in the war. The first medals and insignia were bestowed by George V at Ibrox Park, Glasgow. Before a 60,000-strong crowd, munitions worker Lizzie Robinson became the first woman to receive an OBE.
One of the reasons the system has survived all criticism is that Politicians love honours as an instrument of patronage. They seek to preserve that right by surrounding such appointments with worthy recipients from community and public service. Surprisingly it has never been deemed quite the right time to make changes.
Let me be honest here - I feel conflicted but I’m probably not alone. When I see the headline ‘Honours list published’ I can’t resist running my eye over the names, even to the extent of looking for the Scottish ones or anybody local. My reaction then includes sharing the pride and delight of hugely deserving recipients and feeling anger and disgust at any recognition for self serving forelock tuggers. I nod in respect to anyone named as having turned one down and mutter something about the need to do away with the whole thing. Then I see the beaming smiles on the faces of Marcus Rashford, Dizee Rascal, Lorraine Kelly as well as all the unsung heroes of the pandemic and find myself smiling too.
OK. Here’s the thing. I would I accept an honour? That’s an easy one to deal with. I never answer hypothetical questions.