A poll:
Should Boris Johnson be allowed a resignation honours list?
- No (86%, 705 Votes)
- Yes, but for no more than 10 people not in politics and no peers (12%, 100 Votes)
- Yes (2%, 19 Votes)
Total Voters: 824
Loading ...And then, a follow-up poll:
What should we do with the honours system?
- End the honours system, althogether (37%, 322 Votes)
- Replace the current honours system with a new one for civil society and sports (37%, 320 Votes)
- Scrap resignation honours, altogether (24%, 206 Votes)
- I'm abstaining, but show me the results anyway (2%, 14 Votes)
- Leave things as they are (0%, 4 Votes)
Total Voters: 866
Loading ...Comments are welcome.
Thanks for reading this post.
You can share this post on social media of your choice by clicking these icons:
There are links to this blog's glossary in the above post that explain technical terms used in it. Follow them for more explanations.
You can subscribe to this blog's daily email here.
And if you would like to support this blog you can, here:
Buy me a coffee!
How can such a discredited character be allowed to celebrate his accomplices?
If we want a real democracy in the UK the upper house should be elected by the citizens and not an archaic system based on genes and political/personal favours.
There are also the bishops who are members of the CofE.
If Mr Mendacious Fatberg wants to thank the people that worked with him during his erm.. term of office – then he should hold a party, I understand that he greatly likes parties & the events of 2020 suggest he is also expert at hosting them. So no honours list but let him have his party (& he can cry if he wants to).
All men and women are born equal, any “honours” bestowed by our rulers are bound to favour big capital and lead to corruption.
I’m amazed that his dad and brother both seem to think it’s fine to be ennobled by Boris. If they had any integrity at all they would recognise it as a gross example of nepotism and an obscenity.
When I saw you ask this question my initial reaction was “absolutely not” but then a commenter raised the idea that Johnson should have a list and publish said list for all to see who he is (allegedly) in hock to. An as-yet unconfirmed nominee on his list is the current Daily Mail editor for instance.
Like him or not, he was PM and PMs are entitled to have a resignation honours list. His should be controlled given his propernsity to give honours inappropriately, but while the system exists, it exists.
Obviously the whole honours system shoud be done away with.
Taking my cue from Mike Parr’s “Mr. Mendacious Fatberg”, we should all do our utmost to pour ridicule on fatberg. Here is my effort at poetry. Don’t expect much – I’m only a retired agricultural engineer. Let’s call it doggerel.
There was an incompetent mayor of London
Who couldn’t keep his pants on
We know that this is not a crime
However, many good people view it as grime
But, when London was asked to pay the bill
It looked suspiciously like fingers in the till
And by giving his mistress a lucrative position
It turns it into what we know it is – prostitution.
One of the few that voted yes purely based on the fact that this is the system we have. PMs are allowed a resignation honours, we’ve had the stupid things since 1895.
The whole concept of them is absurd but if we have them we shouldn’t get to pick and chose who gets to use them.
I don’t even think he was a singularly awful prime minister. He’s disgraced the office but I don’t really think he’s any worse than Cameron or May in terms of policy. I believe politics was heading the way it was heading and don’t think he in particular was any more responsible than any one else for where we are.
I’ll also say that the house of lords is full of awful people, most of whom are there as rewards for money given to political parties. So anyone he nominates will fit right in.
There have been controversies around resignation honours lists since they began. I’m old enough to remember Wilson’s Lavendar list in 1976.
So, yes give him what he is entitled to but scrap the whole lot of them if we can
A poll which misses the point, surely – Boris Johnson shouldn’t be free to walk the streets given his behaviour, and we should be concerning oursleves with the reasons why he still is rather than relative fripperies.
There are a number of intersecting issues here, linked by the largely unreformed and uncontrolled patronage powers of the prime minster.
The prime minster should not have the power to pack the upper house of the legislature with friends and family. It is beyond time for a proper reform of the House of Lords so it is “constituted on a popular instead of hereditary basis” as the Parliament Act 1911 said over a century ago. We could consider a mixed basis for appointment, like the upper house in Ireland, or a regional basis, like Australia or Canada (one directly elected, one not). I can see a place for religious representation, from a range of faiths and denominations, not just from the Church of England. Perhaps it would be too much to hope for representatives from professions and learned scientific societies and the arts.
Perhaps we should have a referendum “should we reform the House of Lords on a democratic basis” without spelling which one and we can sort out the details afterwards.
Most countries have a civil honours system of one sort or another to formally recognise and celebrate achievement in a variety of fields. Ireland is one exception, although it does have military honours. Blair and Brown did not have resignation honours (although there were dissolution honours anyway in 2010). It seems extraordinary that Truss might also have a resignation honours list after her brief and disastrous premiership, and there may be demise honours for last year and coronation honours this year too. A surfeit of honors.
Does the spouse of a prime minister deserve an honour? Margaret Thatcher’s husband was granted a baronetcy in 1990, inherited by her son. Norma Major is a dame in her own right, and Cherie Booth has a CBE, both for charity work. Philip May was knighted (by Johnson) in 2020. Surely Carrie expects something?
It almost seems an affront to consider national honours and Johnson in the same sentence, but as for Johnson’s father, given their chequered personal lives, they deserve each other. No doubt each will attain their just reward in heaven.
RESIGNATION HONOURS LIST?
One person deciding who should be honoured doesn’t seem like a good idea to me irrespective of who that one person is tbh
That Truss & Sunak will also add their lists is completely unacceptable
WHAT SHOULD WE DO WITH THE HONOURS SYSTEM?
. There should be an agreed fixed criteria of suitability of those nominated & from across a spread of social achievements – Similar to those given by the Head of State
. The whole HoC should vote. One person’s selection is NOT representative of the electorate imo
. A maximum of 200 Lords
. Lords should be expected to attend 50%+ of sitting time each year or forfeit place & renumeration
As important as either of these issues is a devolved parliament for England
This would allow the UK HoC to become a body similar to the EU Council of Ministers which could address the democratic deficit & potentially hold the UK together by consent rather than by denying democracy
Of course Johnson should be allowed to appoint peers. It’s a rotten system that needs ended, and his appointments only provide more evidence of that.
I get so angry when I see the ubiquitous Johnsons on Tv or hear them on the radio. What have they done to be invited to impart their wisdom on current affairs shows. Stanley is a complete nonentity. What is his claim to fame apart from raising children with giant egos.
Glad to see no sympathy for Johnson here. I think an honours system has a place, but our current one, including as it does references to the British Empire and having been cheapened by being used by the likes of Johnson to reward their cronies (possibly about to get even worse, as known adulterer and domestic abuser Stanley Johnson is among Johnson’s nominees).
If I were ennobled with a Knighthood for some recognised good deed, the first thought would be to hand it back! If you hang on to it then you’ve sunk to the same level as the others.
Following David N’s suggestion, I signed up to openAI and asked if there was a law allowing. PM’s resignation honours; I got a useful answer. How do I know it is correct in all details? “Queen” shows that it is not quite up to date!
“Yes, a British law exists to allow Prime Ministers to give honours on resignation. The Honours (Prevention of Abuses) Act 1925 gives the Prime Minister the power to recommend individuals for honours, such as knighthoods, peerages, or other awards, to the monarch.
While there is no specific provision in the law for honours to be granted on resignation, it is a common practice for Prime Ministers to recommend honours for their colleagues and other individuals who they believe have made significant contributions to public life. These recommendations are then considered by the Honours and Appointments Secretariat, which makes recommendations to the Prime Minister and the Queen.
It is worth noting that the award of honours is subject to various rules and guidelines, including the principle of ensuring that they are awarded on merit and for outstanding achievement or service. The process is also subject to scrutiny to ensure that it is fair and transparent, and to avoid any perception of impropriety or abuse of the honours system.”
Solution: Rishi announces this is an abuse of process and not in line with his stance on integrity etc. He announces that, not only is he NOT approving Boris’ list but will NOT approve a list for Truss and, when the time comes, will not be proposing a list of his own.
Oops. Just saw a pig fly past.