Officers of The Order of The British Empire - Criticism

Criticism

The order has attracted some criticism for its connection with the idea of the British Empire. Benjamin Zephaniah, a British Jamaican poet, publicly rejected an OBE in 2003 because, he claimed it reminded him of "thousands of years of brutality". He went on to say: "It reminds me of how my foremothers were raped and my forefathers brutalised."

In 2004, a House of Commons Select Committee recommended changing the name of the award to the Order of British Excellence and changing the rank of Commander to Companion, as the former was said to have a "militaristic ring".

A notable person to decline the offer of an Order of the British Empire was the author C. S. Lewis (1898–1963), who had been named on the last list of honours by George VI in December 1951 but declined so as to avoid association with any political issues. Another is David Bowie, in 2000.

The members of The Beatles were made MBEs in 1965. John Lennon justified the comparative merits of his investiture by comparing military membership in the order: "Lots of people who complained about us receiving the MBE received theirs for heroism in the war – for killing people… We received ours for entertaining other people. I'd say we deserve ours more." Later, Lennon returned his MBE insignia on 25 November 1969 as part of his ongoing peace protests. Other criticism centres on the claim that many recipients of the Order are being rewarded with honours for simply doing their jobs, they claim that the civil service and judiciary receive far more orders and honours than leaders of other professions.

Chin Peng, long-time leader of the Malayan Communist Party, was granted the OBE for his share in fighting against the Japanese during World War II, in close cooperation with the British commando Force 136. It was withdrawn by the British government (and became undesirable for Chin Peng himself) when the Communist leader headed his party's guerrilla insurgency against the British in the Malayan Emergency.