Lewis Hamilton definitely is, but they've had to squeeze him in to some oddball Civil & Diplomatic List because he's a non-domiciled tax exile.
Bastards, the lot of them.
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Is it true that Farage is getting a New Year's Honours knighthood?
(121 posts) (11 voices)
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Oops, my bad on Farage.
Got it from a well-connected source that there was a "strong rumour".Still can't find Hamilton on the official gov.uk publications. They really do seem to have squeezed him in a side entrance.Found him! He's in the "Overseas and International List" of the Central Chancery of the Orders of Knighthood.
Posted 3 months ago # -
Its clearly politically toxic to grant Farage some sort of award, but I thought in the political sense they were for cross-party level of achievement rather than 'we agree with you', and if that principle is to be maintained, leaving him out starts to contravene that.
Loathe him, or loathe him a lot, he did achieve a substantial profile, performance in EU elections, lobbying/pressure etc and arguably (or not), achieved what he set out to achieve in UK exiting the EU.
If the honours list recognises members of the green party (possibly also the liberal party, Plaid, or Northern Ireland parties, then the exclusion of Farage who led UKIP into rather more substantial vote gathering positions establishes the principle that there is a filter for achievements we agree with, and fosters a principle of the outlaw/renegade/anti-establishment figure.
That's not my lobbying for a Farage award, by the way - whoever recommended him would have a very difficult time of it - but I think his continued exclusion does have a bearing on how 'the system' is viewed going forwards. A politically expedient solution might have been to give him a rather humbler award than he might have been expecting, and have him queue up amongst the worthy postmen, reserve wicketkeepers and Olympic bronze medalists.
Posted 3 months ago # -
Your close relative Angela ?
Doh! <slaphead>As for Farage, I couldn't believe my source's source's source was accurate - hence my OP.
I can vaguely, sort of, maybe, perhaps understand the antiquity that is the honours system. But there has to be some kind of justification - I noticed one bloke this year got an MBE "For services to the Craft of Chair Caning" (I don't think this means he spent 25 years striding in to rooms saying "I'll give that Eames recliner a bloody good thrashing!")But truly, what would Farage's justification have been? For anything. There you go now, justify Farage.
Posted 3 months ago # -
I thought Farage was too busy these days with his iffy investment scheme.
Financial expert slating Farage's new scheme.Posted 3 months ago # -
Thought this might be a good thread for this.
Rock of Gibraltar, by Nick Cave:
Posted 3 months ago # -
Hamilton got his gong because he achieved something, not because he might achieve it
Farage has only proved he's got a gob, not that he had the foresight, ability, aptitude & opportunity to make it work. So far, it hasn't worked, partly because it hasn't even started.
So, once businessmen use the allotted time - yesterday & today - to rewrite all their business plans now they know (after 4 1/2 years) what Brexit looks like, then I'm sure it'll be a fabulous success
And if it proves so, then maybe the (current) majority of the population has got it all wrong, and I might concede he deserves something
But, if he got one today, there would 20 million people really, really unhappy about it
Posted 3 months ago # -
what would Farage's justification have been? For anything. There you go now, justify Farage.
Surely, as one of the most effective wind-up merchants for many decades? The more you object to him getting any kind of award at all because he and everything that he stands for makes you so angry, the more he deserves the title!
I fact, I'd give him an award just for this alone:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bypLwI5AQvY
- the Titus award for saying out loud what everyone else is thinking, but which no-one else has the bottle to actually say out loud; and to do so in such a fluent, articulate and hilariously entertaining way.
Posted 3 months ago # -
Surely as a privately educated, city trader, career politician, MEP, 7 time parliamentary candidate who likes to cuddle up to the billionaire president of the USA in a solid gold lift he couldn’t possibly accept any award that might make him part of the Establishment?
Posted 3 months ago # -
I dont think you quite adress the point.
It's not about whether you agree with the outcome, because the honours system is supposed to be politically neutral.
It's supposed to be about the magnitude of the achievement- and if we accept that exit from the EU has become our national destiny, voted for through referendum, a referendum triggered through political pressure of the rise of UKIP, kept on track by political pressure through Brexit party performance, and in all of that Farage has been fairly instrumental.Excluding him from the honours list ratheir suggests the 'establishment' is either embarrassed about the outcome, or doesn't want to share the credit for the recognising him. Or both.
Posted 3 months ago # -
The others can speak for themselves, but I certainly addressed it
The only thing Farage achieved was to make the nation extremely angry - whether it's the half in favour of leaving or the half in favour of remaining. He certainly didn't achieve anything tangible whatsoever
There's an argument that those implementing Brexit could receive something, now or later - but obviously I'd not be in favour because of my bias
But Farage? Absolutely no
Posted 3 months ago # -
I think it's daft to say he hasn't achieved anything.
He was instrumental in the UK leaving the EU, a move which has already had a global impact in news, diplomatic discussions, triggering trade agreements etc.To influence the UK to leave the EU is an immense achievement, whether you think it is a positive or a negative.
Posted 3 months ago # -
While the magnitude of what Farage has achieved is beyond dispute, whether through what I-d identifies as our national destiny, and Sinnick sees as divisiveness and self-harm, but the honours system also is about service for the benefit of the UK...the way Farage influenced us leaving the EU has abandoned parts of the UK, especially N.Ireland, within de facto EU borders, and substantially increased the sentiment for independence there, and across Scotland...either of which renders the relevant Acts of Union invalid, and the UK no more - this might be argued to benefit any or all of the countries on an individual basis, but cannot be argued as a benefit to the UK, ergo, no gong.
Posted 3 months ago # -
Fair point re:Wuhan but the point seems to being argued two ways...one, that it's not an achievement of any note, and one that it's going to be a catastrophe.
Ignoring Farage on either grounds rather ignores the fact that this path was chosen...by a lot of people... and has been adopted by parliament as our new national destiny.
We can't perpetuate a position of being embarrassed at our chosen path, apologetic for it, we have all got to get on with it. Failing to recognise the person who was instrumental in us choosing to take this path just sends a message that we are awkward and reluctant about Leaving the EU.
It's not about whether you loathe him, or loathe what he's achieved, it's about recognising his input in a massive national decision we've all been part of.
Posted 3 months ago # -
But this path wasn't chosen by the current population, it was very marginal 4 1/2 years ago. No-one currently under 22 voted for it; the vast majority of those in their 20s voted against it; many of those much older who did vote for it are no longer alive; 2 million British people living in the EU weren't allowed to vote about it, and they're obviously in favour of the EU
And I will perpetuate being embarrassed by it, thanks, whenever I talk to family or friends living in the EU: they sympathise because they understand it
They can see that the last time in Europe that freedoms were taken away was the very event that caused the EU being set up in the first place
Like most Remainers, I will never forgive the Tories for doing this to my freedoms, and to begin the destruction of the UK
Posted 3 months ago # -
But all of that subjectivity shouldn't apply to a cross-party / politically neutral eligibility for an award. Whether you think its a triumph or a disaster, its the path that parliament have chosen to follow, with a party in a massive majority who were elected to do so. It can hardly be termed a minor, niche or irrelevant policy when its become the national destiny. Whatever it is, it is not a small thing.
The referendum wouldn't have happened without Farage, quite likely. And quite possibly it could have been derailed/overruled without pressure from Brexit Party at the EU elections.
You can list all the people who didn't vote for it, but the fact remains more voted for it than against. And , as it is now the way we are heading, it appears incongruous to be so embarrassed about one of the key figures in starting that path that he's ignored when many other political figures of minor parties aren'tPosted 3 months ago # -
ID - do vets have a 'dead horse' award? Cos I'm nominating you :-)
1. The honours system was corrupted so long ago that it really doesn't carry the weight it should
2. Your position appears to be that a particular person deserves an award, should actually be a shoo-in for one - if we reach that point then honours surely become meaningless?
3. Your choice of person to single out is hilarious. Nigel Farage? He's one of the most risible living Britons.Posted 3 months ago # -
I am struggling with the "we" and "us" part of your analysis ID. I am embarrassed and apologetic, regularly, when dealing with my EU science colleagues, on a regular basis. Working across borders is now much harder, especially when sharing data and environmental samples.
The only thing that Farage had going for him was that he was an effective cheerleader for a braying mob, let loose by the very worst thing that you can do in a representative democracy, a plebiscite, allowed by a posh boy who, as Obama observed waspishly "had never been pressed".
If we take the route you suggest, perhaps we should honour members of the Provisional IRA and the UVF, as without their activities we would never have negotiated the Good Friday Agreement?
Posted 3 months ago # -
Don't like equine work.
I think my point is that the political honours system recognises impact/achievement/significance, and expressly shouldn't be partisan, otherwise you'll get a torrent of one lot followed by a torrent of the other lot. Farage has had significant impact, with which many of you don't agree, but the fact that his will prevailed and now the nation has voted to go along with it, and for parties that go along with it, means we can't write him off as some sort of nonentity.
So, the longer he's ignored, we might as well have the 'establishment' saying 'we are at odds with the elected governments direction of travel, and we're embarassed to be going on this journey. Which many of you may agree with, but its still a hell of a conflicted position for the leadership of the nation to take.
Posted 3 months ago # -
He's one of the most risible living Britons.
Unlike, say, Jeremy Corbyn, who achieved precisely fuck-all except to make Her Majesty's Opposition even less credible than ever as a potential alternative government - and to further aggravate his party's already dodgy reputation on anti-Semitism?
You might not like what Nigel Farage achieved, but you can hardly say he didn't achieve anything! He was a leading figure in (and a very effective speaker for) a brand-new political party which was the only party wanting Brexit - and, in the teeth of opposition from every other remotely significant political party in the country, won (albeit narrowly) a national referendum.
Posted 3 months ago #
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