Step forward the undeserving: it’s honours season again |
Once Christmas Day’s out of the way and we’re stuck in that no man’s land between one year and the next – known, tweely, as ‘Twixmas’ or, if you’re posh, the ‘interregnum’ – one thing guaranteed to make the front pages is the announcement of the New Year’s Honours List. News of the worthy – and not-so-worthy – recipients will be released, and we’ll get to see who’s been elevated to the Lords, knighted or handed one of the lesser gongs. Among the very deserving recipients will be those who make you think: hang on a minute – how did that happen?
When news broke that former prime minister Tony Blair was to be made a Knight Companion, more than a million people signed a petition calling for the honour to be blocked. Nothing came of it because the award was a personal gift from the late Queen Elizabeth II, although it was noted that former prime ministers are customarily rewarded for their service. Blair’s omission had been stopping his successors from being recognised.
Given the accusations of political patronage and cronyism surrounding the honours system, it’s legitimate to ask: is it broken? As lovely as it is to see people who’ve worked selflessly and tirelessly for years to make the lives of others better getting an MBE or OBE, watching disreputable characters who’ve done almost nothing to earn them being given a higher honour sticks in the craw. It only reinforces the idea that the system is corrupt.
But the rot........