The New Year honours lists recognise the achievements and service of people across the UK and from all walks of life. And for those of you not familiar with the British honours system, here’s at once a very comprehensive as well as official resource.
Now ‘merit’ is no doubt in the eye of the beholder, but some of the nominations have raised eyebrows in the past, namely some nominations in the 2017 New Year’s list, where Theresa May’s government blamed David Cameron, her predecessor, for honours given to Conservative party donors and bureaucrats simply for doing their very well paid job – and whether they did their job well is at least in some cases rather questionable.
And there have always been celebrities who have turned down their nominations : David Bowie and John Cleese are just two of the no doubt more famous ones. And some people returned their honours after originally accepting them, such as John Lennon his MBE in 1969. The former Beatle disagreed with Britain’s foreign policy and wrote:
“Your Majesty, I am returning this in protest against Britain’s involvement in the Nigeria-Biafra thing, against our support of America in Vietnam and against Cold Turkey slipping down the charts.
“With Love, John Lennon of Bag.”
Less well known no doubt is the fact that George Harrison turned down an OBE in 2000: although he never commented himself, rumours have it that he felt insulted by not having been offered a knighthood such as his former band mate Paul McCartney in 1997.
The 2020 Honours list will be officially announced tonight at 10.30 p.m.
The grumpy older man 