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The Queens birthday honours were announced today with Ian Botham being knighted for his services to charity and Salman Rushdie for his servies to literature being the big two.
Lots of people think the honours system is outdated and want it scrapped and lately it's integrity has been brought into question with people including the prime minister being interviewed by the police investigating whether honours have been bought.
People are nominated for an honour for doing various things like being the best in their profession, charity work or for long time service to a community / organisation etc and the classes are:
Sir / Dame - for work on an internation scale
CBE - for work on a national scale
OBE - for work on a regional scale
MBE - for work on a local level
So do you think the honours system should be scrapped? Or do you think that people should be recognised by the governement / Queen for their work?
I personally think the honours system is as relevant today as it always has been and want it to stay. OK there are always going to be people who get overlooked but I think that people who are dedicated and committed to their cause deserve recognition and that an honour is a good way of showing that.
Lots of people think the honours system is outdated and want it scrapped and lately it's integrity has been brought into question with people including the prime minister being interviewed by the police investigating whether honours have been bought.
People are nominated for an honour for doing various things like being the best in their profession, charity work or for long time service to a community / organisation etc and the classes are:
Sir / Dame - for work on an internation scale
CBE - for work on a national scale
OBE - for work on a regional scale
MBE - for work on a local level
So do you think the honours system should be scrapped? Or do you think that people should be recognised by the governement / Queen for their work?
I personally think the honours system is as relevant today as it always has been and want it to stay. OK there are always going to be people who get overlooked but I think that people who are dedicated and committed to their cause deserve recognition and that an honour is a good way of showing that.
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I understand your issues with the Queen giving out the honours, how about if it was a national event with everyone voting for it or at least suggesting why someone should be given an honour (with at least 1 A4 page describing why, to cut down on timewasters).
I guess I just find the whole thing... (can't think of the word). It's like in accepting one of these awards the person is bowing before the great superior one, So grateful, ma'am (cap in hand) Thankyou, my queen, thankyou thankyou.
If I were a charity worker, say, I'd rather be awarded something from the people I've actually helped. That would be more than enough.
And when celebs (or famous whoevers) get something (and let's face it, they're the only ones we really hear about), it's just another way for them to brush their egos. And then they always say the same thing don't they: It's a great honour. Blurrrr smugface.
And as someone mentioned earlier, there's the question of buying the damn things by injecting huge amounts of cash into political parties. But that's slightly off topic.
If I were a charity worker, say, I'd rather be awarded something from the people I've actually helped. That would be more than enough.
And when celebs (or famous whoevers) get something (and let's face it, they're the only ones we really hear about), it's just another way for them to brush their egos. And then they always say the same thing don't they: It's a great honour. Blurrrr smugface.
And as someone mentioned earlier, there's the question of buying the damn things by injecting huge amounts of cash into political parties. But that's slightly off topic.
Tiramisu wrote:
> I hear what you're saying, but aren't there things like the
> National Teacher's Award, and those Courage awards (you know,
> with Carol Voderman), and no doubt many more in the different
> fields.
I think you have to make the distinct of what these things are awarding. Cristiano Ronaldo won PFA player of the year. He did so because his fellow professionals deemed him the best footballer this season. He didnt win it for his contributions to society, his charity work, being a model professional or anything else. The honours system isnt necessarily about rewarding people who were just good at their jobs or picking the best.
> And when they give an MBE to super-friendly lollipop lady or a
> selfless roadsweeper I always think "PR exercise!"
But if shes made a worthwhile contribution, why not? When people are nominated they have to present a significant body of evidence as to why they should receive an award as well. So theres always some justification. And who else is there to recognise her contributions?
> I hear what you're saying, but aren't there things like the
> National Teacher's Award, and those Courage awards (you know,
> with Carol Voderman), and no doubt many more in the different
> fields.
I think you have to make the distinct of what these things are awarding. Cristiano Ronaldo won PFA player of the year. He did so because his fellow professionals deemed him the best footballer this season. He didnt win it for his contributions to society, his charity work, being a model professional or anything else. The honours system isnt necessarily about rewarding people who were just good at their jobs or picking the best.
> And when they give an MBE to super-friendly lollipop lady or a
> selfless roadsweeper I always think "PR exercise!"
But if shes made a worthwhile contribution, why not? When people are nominated they have to present a significant body of evidence as to why they should receive an award as well. So theres always some justification. And who else is there to recognise her contributions?
I hear what you're saying, but aren't there things like the National Teacher's Award, and those Courage awards (you know, with Carol Voderman), and no doubt many more in the different fields.
And when they give an MBE to super-friendly lollipop lady or a selfless roadsweeper I always think "PR exercise!"
And Knight of the Realm and all that antiquated claptrap, what does it all mean, really.
And when they give an MBE to super-friendly lollipop lady or a selfless roadsweeper I always think "PR exercise!"
And Knight of the Realm and all that antiquated claptrap, what does it all mean, really.
Tiramisu wrote:
> Yes. There's enough awards already in all the particular fields.
Not really, you should remember that the awards that go to sports people and others with a high profile is only a small amount of the actual awards that are given out.
> Surely it's better to be acknowledged and respected by your
> peers than by The Queen (and whoever decides who gets what).
I think it was about 950 that got nominated in the latest list. Its fair to say that alot of them are not in any position to receive any sort of public recognition.
> Yes. There's enough awards already in all the particular fields.
Not really, you should remember that the awards that go to sports people and others with a high profile is only a small amount of the actual awards that are given out.
> Surely it's better to be acknowledged and respected by your
> peers than by The Queen (and whoever decides who gets what).
I think it was about 950 that got nominated in the latest list. Its fair to say that alot of them are not in any position to receive any sort of public recognition.
Yes. There's enough awards already in all the particular fields. Surely it's better to be acknowledged and respected by your peers than by The Queen (and whoever decides who gets what). It's just an ego trip really, as opposed to say, being voted footballer of the year by your fellow professionals, or winning single of the year as voted by Radio One listeners... urm, you know what I mean :S
They really could be scrapped, yes, as some of the awardees do diminish the vlaue, but to be honest I can say that I have a (pretty distant) relative with a MBE, which sounds impressive, so I'm not complaining too much! And some of these normal, everyday people who don't seem to have done much may well have in the eyes of others - and it makes good happy-clappy news stories.
But they do need to be handed out to people who really have made great achievements, though to be honest it's hard to designate what truly merits one to be given, as of course some people are more prominent than others, and achievements vary in different peoples' eyes. I'm not the sort of person who reckons, say, a glorified flower arranger deserves one in comparrison to, say, successful inventors, or people from the field of business, academia etc.
But they do need to be handed out to people who really have made great achievements, though to be honest it's hard to designate what truly merits one to be given, as of course some people are more prominent than others, and achievements vary in different peoples' eyes. I'm not the sort of person who reckons, say, a glorified flower arranger deserves one in comparrison to, say, successful inventors, or people from the field of business, academia etc.
Line up, commoner, to receive a gold star from your Monarch. Haven't you done well.
I've nothing against awards/honours but this system seems somewhat childish to me. It's like headmistress giving out ribands at school assembly.
And then there's the question of corruption/favouritism (cash for honours/peerages etc).
I've nothing against awards/honours but this system seems somewhat childish to me. It's like headmistress giving out ribands at school assembly.
And then there's the question of corruption/favouritism (cash for honours/peerages etc).
I agree. I'm a huge fan of Steven Gerrard, but does being a decent footballer really mean he should get an honour. More to the point, do the other two deserve it either?
A whole host of actors, tv presenters, musicians and sports stars get honours for seemingly (or to me at least) nothing.
I like the honours idea, but too many crap people are getting them.
A whole host of actors, tv presenters, musicians and sports stars get honours for seemingly (or to me at least) nothing.
I like the honours idea, but too many crap people are getting them.
I'm a fan of the honour system actually. But I think there needs to be a better system of assignment. There doesnt seem to be any kind of consistency with recognition, you can see that particularly in sports. Ryan Giggs is to receive an OBE. Model professional, does alot of charity work and has won everything in the game at club level. You can probably say its a fair award. Teddy Sheringham is to receive an MBE too, again given hes played until hes 40 at the top level, I think probably fair. Yet Stephen Gerrard already has an MBE and hes not even half way through his career. I think its really hard to claim his contributions are as significant as Ryan Giggs/Teddy Sheringham at this point, no matter how well he performed in a champions league final.
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