When the US declared independence, it famously rejected the idea that their new country would have titles (although George Washington was often referred to unofficially as вЂњhis excellencyвЂќ). 5) Abolishing titles wonвЂ™t make Britain better It could be argued that this wording is outdated, but knight and damehoods avoid this baggage anyway, tending instead to be вЂњof the Order of the GarterвЂќ or вЂњof the Order of the ThistleвЂќ. 4) WhatвЂ™s in a word?Д¬ritics of the honours system argue against the specific wording of the honours, specifically the fact that so many of them include the words вЂњBritish EmpireвЂќ (OBE and MBE are for the Order of the British Empire or Member of the Order of the British Empire, respectively) вЂ“ a political entity that largely ceased to exist after 1945. Perhaps that could be a useful litmus test for its removal? If you think titles are meaningless, just ignore them. 3) DonвЂ™t like them? DonвЂ™t use themД¬alling someone by their title is not compulsory and in my experience, itвЂ™s generally only those undeserving of the award that insist that you use it. Should civil servants and business people, for example, really be awarded the gongs just for doing their jobs? Surely they should be reserved for those who really have gone above and beyond the call of duty, those who have genuinely enriched the nation вЂ“ and not just financially. The honours should be awarded on merit, not for something incidental to your career or contacts book. Instead, we should be more careful about who we give them too.Дoes one man really need so many medals? Jamie McCaffrey, CC BYДЇar too often, though, knighthoods have been handed out as a form of political patronage.

By that logic, the Nobel Peace Prize should also be abolished. But the fact that an award has, at some point, been given to an unsuitable person does not justify its total abolishment. One of the chief arguments for getting rid of the Australian system was that a knighthood had been awarded to Prince Philip, a man not short on titles, but arguably short on the merit to justify them all. Certainly, too, there have been occasions where it has proven politically embarrassing вЂ“ Fred Goodwin, the former RBS boss who presided over the stricken bank in 2008, springs to mind. Why dump them now? 2) A few bad eggs shouldnвЂ™t put you offД®ven the staunchest defender of the honours system would admit that they have, on occasion, been awarded to the undeserving.

Knight and damehoods have been held by people from Winston Churchill and Isaac Newton to Ernest Shackleton and Judi Dench. Honours such as this are part of our common heritage, stretching back hundreds of years. The French system was put in place by Napoleon, and yet still is actively used. The French, for example, have the Legion of Honour.

If we got rid of things purely because theyвЂ™d been around a long time weвЂ™d have removed the monarchy, the state opening of parliament and the Radio Times.ДЄlmost every country has an honours system of one kind or another. Lots of traditions are archaic, but that isnвЂ™t necessarily a good reason to scrap them.

Knighthood england