Why do people continue to complain about the British honours awards???

Knight of the British ’Empire’, Officer of the British ’Empire’ etc. A few more were awarded this week and the usual objections have been raised by those who ask where this so-called ’Empire’ is?

But really, what is there to complain about?

It is indisputable that the British Empire is an antiquated concept that is now only as real as the existence of the Loch Ness monster or Big Foot, if someone is happy to issue these awards with description ’Empire’ on it and someone is delighted to accept them, what’s the harm?

The fact that Turkey is not issuing Knight of the Ottoman Empire or Greece carrying on with Knight if the Alexander the Great Empire or Italy issuing Knight of the Roman Empire, is perhaps their business. If as we all know it, that Empires come and go, and the British Empire only lives in the minds of a few remaining octo and nonagenarians, why not just leave them to it.

Most multi-generational Brits (a term I use to describe brits whose ancestry date back at least 5 generations – and NO, I do not imply that makes them any more British than a child born yesterday to an immigrant who arrived in Britain last week. But multi-generational Brits bear that burden of thinking they are the only ones who need to defend its history) believe that the British Empire enlightened the dark world by bringing their light and educated savages etc., but are those savages now better off? Would Africans prefer living in caves now and munching on fruits, with the occasional tribal wars and tens of deaths, compared to millions of death from slavery, manipulation leading to bloody wars, all to have a battery-powered cigarette lighter and the ability to add 1 + 1 = 2 and learn about Jesus? It is best to leave Africans to answer that question. Same applies to native inhabitants of Canada, the US, Australian, Brazil etc. Seeking the removal of some visual reminders (by going through the proper channels – not wanton destruction during riots) if some feel strongly about it e.g. statues, is ok, even though I believe removal avails little. But to demand that words such ’Empire’ is removed from awards, when we still have a monarch is pointless. As explained above, nobody is saying a British Empire is still out there, and if anyone thinks or states that, well, good for them. I would like to see him/her stroll across a US Immigration control at JFK without their passport and tell the officer that as an Officer of the British Empire, they can just stroll in. Some points are simply not worthy of debate

Whether or not the British Empire is seen as a brutal period that’s best forgotten like most other past Empires or as an era that brought light to dark parts of the world, fixation on the continued use of the word ’Empire’ in the honours is pointless. The awards can be called whatever the Queen wants to call them and whoever’s happy to accept them should, and those opposed to them have the option to refuse them. But the daft attempt to try to force the removal of the word ’Empire’ is quite frankly, daft.

Today’s daft notion by people with very little intelligence but huge followings on social media, that we can undo the past, rewrite history (history is a flawed concept anyway – always manipulated and told from the perspective of those seeking to manipulate), right every past wrong by knocking down a statue here or there, really is exactly what it is: DAFT. Yes, there used to be a British Empire, yes, that empire, like all others before it, was designed solely to the benefit of those who created it (is that surprising) and yes many would argue it wreaked more ill than good (but as explained above, only those on the receiving end of the brutality would point at the ills). Apologising for it today, is pointless. Can’t be retrospectively fixed nor undone either. So….. let’s move on…

I can understand the pain that some previously colonised people may still feel towards Britain, and the pain that many non-white people still feel about how they are perceived and treated in today’s Britain, BUT let us imagine the reaction if a Brit living in Spain starts demanding an end to Bull-fighting? Perhaps not the best analogy but you catch my drift. Some of the freedoms we all have in the UK today, which includes being able to speak freely, must never be taken for granted. There are practices in every part of the world that could be improved, if we can get to a point where all that’s left to improve in the UK is the use of the word ’Empire’ in a honours award that people can opt out of, if they not interested, then life is good aint it?