Memorandum by Andrew C Kelly (HON 32)
My name is Andrew Kelly and I am 16 years old.
I saw your interview on the Channel Five seven o'clock news, where
you were talking about the Honours system. I gather there is a
Select Committee on the subject, and they want the public's point
of view. Having strong points of view on the subject, I felt compelled
to write to you to express them.
For a start, you mentioned we are the only country
left in the world that operates such a system; you made this sound
like a bad thing. We have, arguably, the most traditions in the
world. These traditions are what makes this country and what makes
us famous throughout the world. To get rid of the system would
to be to take away part of our heritage, which surely is not a
good thing.
During the interview, you also mentioned that
the honours system was biased on class. I would dispute this.
Are you saying by this that Sir Alex Ferguson, Sir Mick Jagger
and even David Beckham OBE are upper class because they have honours?
The present honours system is a fair one in terms of class and
with the above examples; I cannot see how it could be biased in
any way.
On the other hand, I take your point and entirely
agree it is biased in favour of those with certain jobs. This,
however, is the fault of politicians and civil servants, who quite
frequently give honours to their colleagues. They overlook the
ordinary people who do not work in Government or are not celebrities.
This needs to be changed so that all varieties of people, whether
they be nurses or diplomats, are considered. Let us remember that
diplomats could quite easily be any class, so again it is not
class biased.
You touched on sexism, and I could not honestly
say that it is not sexist in some way. However, that is the way
that the world is. A wife takes her husband's surname, not the
other way round. When a Prince marries a woman, she becomes a
Princess. However, when a man marries a Princess he does not become
a Prince. If we were to rid the honours of this slight sexism,
Prince Philip would become King Philip, Princess Anne's husband
would become a Prince and when people marry, whose surname would
they take? How far do you take it?
While I totally agree that the Honours system
needs major reform, I do not believe that destroying it is the
best thing to do. The majority of the country like, and are proud
of, this ancient tradition and believe that it should continue
well into the future. I personally believe that those who decide
on the Honours should be an independent committee, and not civil
servants who appear to be biased in favour of their own kind.
An independent committee would give the honours to those who deserve
it, and not make a mockery of them by giving them to the likes
of David Beckham for "services to football".
I hope that you take some of these points into
consideration, Mr Prentice, and I thank you for your time.
February 2004
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