British Honours for Sale Debate Rages

The House of Lords Appointments Commission has blocked three businessmen from receiving goodies from the Blair government. It seems that these men loaned money to Labour-related entities and that this may have been linked to their appearance on the latest Honours List. One, Sir David Garrard, has asked the Prime Minister to have his name removed and his peerage mothballed (a knighthood seems enough for him for now). However, it raises the question of just what is the purpose of honors at all?

The idea of there actually being Dukes, Earls, Princes and Barons in the 21st century is rather ludicrous. At least, that is the case for those held on the grounds that an ancestor of the current peer switched sides at an opportune moment during the Wars of the Roses or lent Edward VIII money when he was a lowly Prince of Wales with no day job.

To his credit the late George V said he would never make a baronet of someone whose “only apparent claim is that he is the brother of the postmaster-general.” A barontecy is a knighthood of the hereditary sort, invented by James I for the colonization of Ulster – initial price tag: £1,095 apiece; in 1611, that was serious money. The current Queen’s grandfather also complained (in private) about the titles and other goodies handed out to those who had hoarded food, swindled the government and otherwise turned World War I to their financial advantage.

His Prime Minister, David Lloyd-George, however, defended the practice of selling peerages. He claimed it was “a far cleaner method of filling the party chest” than selling party policy as was (and is) done in America. In America, he said, rich men altered the actual decision-making of government, whereas in Britain all they wanted was baronetcies and peerages. Interestingly, he sold a peerage for £40,000, and New Labour is alleged to offer them at £1 million each, which is just about in keeping with the rate of inflation according to the Daily Telegraph.

The mistake, though, is to confuse the idea of honor with the titles and medals and frippery that goes with it. Sir Elton John is no one’s idea of a knight in shining armor (well, save maybe David Furnish, his partner in life), but the “Sir” is an acknowledgement of his huge contribution to British and world music. An honor cannot be bought, no matter what Mr. Blair’s government may believe. It must be earned, and it can truly only be bestowed by those whose opinions matter to the honoree. The esteem of others is the only real honor there is.

© Copyright 2006 by The Kensington Review, Jeff Myhre, PhD, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent. Produced using Fedora Linux.

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