This seems like an insult to the Queen to me.
John Cleese refused it this year among others.
A poet named Benjamin Zephaniah gave this reason. (This year?)
“I get angry when I hear that word ‘empire’; it reminds me of slavery, it reminds me of thousands of years of brutality."
Aren’t these people just asking to be hated more?
Exactly which Empire would that be?
People refuse it because it’s a ludicrous, outdated nonsense dished out like sweeties to people who, more often that not, are just doing the job they’re paid to do. Or are getting nothing more than an award for being famous. They shouldn’t need a pat on the back from a outmoded heirachy named after a long departed colonial power.
Don’t mind me, I thought this thread was diss’en countries that seprated from Britain.
Some refuse a lesser honour like a knighthood in the expectation of a higher honour later. I feel that BZ refused it for the publicity. It’s a recognition of achievement.
And well done and deserved Sir Tim
The simple answer is that not very many people do refuse it. Get hold of a copy of any broadsheet and see the vast number of people who do take it, then compare the handful of self important ingrate pricks who turn it down. There’s your answer. Aslo, the fuss that’s made when someone knocks one back is because it is so unusual.
And Zephania is just a mouth on a stick, who wouldn’t have sweet FA if it weren’t for the British Government (you think that his “poetry” is conmmercially viable? He’s an Arts Council parasite).
However they seem to have missed my name off this year - surely an oversight.
When did “commercially viable” become the measure of poetry? (Not that I’ve ever heard of this Benjamin Zephaniah, but “not commercially viable” has got to be the silliest critique I’ve ever seen)
The point is that he was perfectly happy to accept all the money that his (not very good IMHO) poetry got him from the Arts Council, but turned arsey when he was offered a gong. The hypocritical balloon.
This seems like an insult to the Queen to me.
We’re not obliged to be polite to the Queen. Many object because it implies buying into a flawed system. It’s a widely held view in the UK - see BBC Talking Point - that many of the awards are undeserved, because they haven’t involved extraordinary work or achievements. As Futile Gesture said, many go to people who have simply been well-paid for working in already privileged posts. Look at this list from the New Year Honours and ask yourself whether “Gardener, Crown Estate, Windsor”, “First Chauffeur, Royal Mews”, and “Secretary to the Dean of Windsor” are any more deserving than the many gardeners, drivers and secretaries who work just as hard for ordinary employers.
My Grandfather was an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) but I have to say in recent years the honours list has become pretty farcial and they tend to give them out to any old yahoo nowdays.
It’s all very well commenting upon folk who publicly refuse honours, they may have their reasons for doing so, and these could well be related to publicity.
…however, there are those who are asked discreetly about how they would feel to be included in such a list, and the selectors are also careful to not to try ask those who would almost certainly refuse.
We don’t hear naything about such folk, they probably wouldn’t want the publicity, it could be seen as ungrateful, or perhaps might reduce their anti-establishment credibility for having ever been considered in the first place.
So before a broad sweeping statement can be made about the “ingrates” who refuse honours, perhaps it would be better if we had a few quotes from those who administer the honours list.
OBE for “William James MacKay. Artificial Inseminator, Genus. For services to the Agricultural community in Caithness and Sutherland.”
It’s a dirty job but someone’s got to do it.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/3357523.stm
If the honours were genuiinely on merit and achievement their might be something to be said for them to be retained in some way (with some reform) but many are automatically awarded just for occupying a particular post They are compliled in secret (alledgedly for independence) and even MPs cannot see the details though there is some talk of reform recently.
Recent “leaks” suggest about 300 have refused honours
“Secret handbook exposes ‘political’ honours”
I’ve heard from more than one person the the OBE is something to give people, who might otherwise bitch about not getting a knighthood.
BTW: You get some perks to the OBE, btw:
You can bring your sheep across London Bridge without paying a toll, and, if you are ever hung by the brits, they have to hang you with a SILK rope.
There are a couple of Guardian articles here and here giving some of the various reasons people have refused honours. Some do look a bit ungrateful in being miffed at not getting a higher honour, but others aren’t monarchist and don’t want a monarchist award; some (not just Zephaniah) don’t like the imperial connotations; there’s a political journalist who feels there are issues of ethics and impartiality in accepting an honour from the state; and Michael Frayn just likes his name as it stands.
While we’re on the subject, there are different classifications of the OBE: officer, commissioner, and one or two more. What is the hierarchy? Is a commissioner higher than an officer, for example?
OBE:- “Other Bugger’s Efforts”
MBE:- “My Bloody Effort”
the allotment of awards and medals generally is a source of discontent whether in the military or civil field, irrespective of country, with some thinking deserving candidates have been missed out while others complain about undeserved awards. When the present administration called for the populace to suggest some worthy candidates some people promptly wrote in to recommend themselves. :rolleyes:
It’s a low-cost way of making people feel better about their lives and giving them some recognition, though a good many seem to go to civil servants and captains of industry on the principle of ‘Buggin’s Turn’. Why we are giving them to sportsmen like Beckham for doing nothing more than having the good fortune to get extremely well paid for doing something that they happen to be very good at, is beyond me.
see http://www.cqms.com/product_info.php?products_id=229 for a description of the hierarchy of it.:
I’m sorry, but can somebody please explain what the hell you all are talking about?
What does “refuse the order of the British Empire” mean?
Eleusis, the Order of the British Empire (better known by its’ initials, OBE), is one of several awards, short of knighthood, that can be granted in honor of public service in the United Kingdom and in some of the Commonwealth nations.
People can refuse this award, but only when first offered.
Righty oh then. Thank you gov’ nuh 
I had the impression it was something to do with knighthood but was lost on the semantics.
The OBE ranks are Knight/Dame Grand Cross, Knight or Dame Commander, Commander, Officer, and Member.
If i recall rightly (and I may not) the GBE (Knight or Dame Grand Cross) and MBE are civilian honours, while the others are limited to those being honoured for military service. Again, from dim memory, the rank depends on one’s rank in the military when honored. For civilians, those being honored twice rise from MBE to GBE.
Originally, the Orders (the awards in general) were intended to honour those who served the war effort either as servicemen or on the home front. (the WWI effort, specifically).