Britain’s Mo Farah sailing to victory in the men’s 10K. Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/londonannie
The background
Team GB athletes performed exceptionally well in the Olympic Games – but will they get honours in the New Year honours list? Graham Taylor, a member of the committe that nominates sports stars, said that since so many athletes did well – more than 100 Britons won medals – some will inevitably be disappointed because of the quota system that limits how many can be handed out.
Such quotas, reported The Telegraph, mean that only one Olympian will qualify for a knighthood or damehood; four CBEs can be handed out, 20 OBES, and 38 MBES can be shared among sports stars per year. Civil servants can receive four knighthoods; 22 CBEs, 68 OBES and 134 MBES; those in health and education can expect 16 knighthoods, 40 CBES, 102 OBES and 206 MBEs. Taylor hoped that he might be able to borrow some knighthoods from other quotas – but that this would mean fewer sports stars honoured in other years.
However, Sir Bob Kerslake, head of the civil service, has revealed that the rules about quotas will be torn up, and that gold medallists “who deserve recognition” will get rewards, reported The Daily Mail.
“In the past people have been awarded an honor quickly and easily for their achievements and that has now changed and it is not so easy to get that kind of reward,” said Graham Taylor, quoted on The Daily Telegraph.
Honours are debased, and politicians should stop their obsession with sportspeople
Richard Littlejohn in The Mail wondered why Bradley Wiggins “would even want a knighthood” – he’s won an Olympic gold, after all. Both David Cameron and Boris Johnson have reacted with dismay at the news that most athletes won’t get gongs. But “Why? I thought the Tories wanted to get rid of the ‘all must have prizes’ culture.” Plus, the “honours system is already debased.” Does a “CBE … really add lustre” to an athlete’s achievements? The problem is that Cameron and Johnson both want to milk “our Olympics athletes for their own purposes.”
Honours are great
It’s hard to define honour, said Douglas Hurd in The Telegraph. We look for “that precious extra achievement,” accomplished “in addition” to ordinary work. It’s hard to compare the worth of “a district nurse” tirelessly working over decades to an athlete who’s won a medal after months of training. Hurd is a defender of the system – it “meets a need of which the public is very conscious.” There’s a strong case that honours should be “selected on the basis of a genuine extra achievement,” but we can’t “satisfy everyone.”
This bickering is a souring experience
No athlete, said The Times’ editorial, spills their guts out to say “I can’t believe it! I was this far from bagging an MBE!” Honours are merely “icing,” “not the cake.” We regard our Olympians enormously well – so “bickering over how many Olympians and Paralympians deserve to be further blessed with an honor is … souring.”
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Gold post boxes honor athletes: Should they get MBEs as well?
