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Honours System (Reform)

: One reason why the issue has surfaced in recent times is that people feel uncomfortable with the word ““empire””. Indeed, the report gives some fairly telling quotations in that respect, and a number of people told us, ““I come from a colonial background and have spent all my life struggling against colonialism.”” They are then expected to go around as a Commander of the Order of the British Empire. That is not a tenable position. When significant sections of the population feel that they cannot take on board the nomenclature of awards, that invites us to think seriously about whether we need to revisit the subject.