Cabinet Office confirms ‘Empire’ will not be removed from OBE awards

Earlier this month, shadow education secretary Kate Green called the system - in which people are appointed to the Order of the British Empire (OBE) - ‘offensive and divisive’

(PA)

Despite public criticism, the Cabinet Office has confirmed that there are no plans to remove the words "British Empire" from the honours system.

Earlier this month, shadow education secretary Kate Green called the system - in which people are appointed to the Order of the British Empire (OBE) - "offensive and divisive".

In amongst the anti-racist activism occurring with the Black Lives Matter movement, the colonial roots of the UK have been criticised, and a distancing from the British Empire has been called for.

But on Wednesday, the head of the Honours Secretariat at the Cabinet Office said that while huge efforts had been made to make the list more inclusive, its name will remain the same.

Helen Ewen said: "There are no plans currently to make changes in this area - you've seen today that we've again seen a growth in the number of individuals in black and ethnic minority communities on this list, which we strongly welcome.

She added: "We are also doing a huge amount of work to build on the public nominations and to make sure that the nominations coming forward help us keep these lists representative of UK society in its widest form."

This year's New Year honours list is the most diverse to date, with 14.2% of those honoured coming from BAME backgrounds, while 6.9% of those on the list had a disability.

A further 4% identified as LGBTQ - among them Joanne Monck, an independent adviser to Sussex Police and LGBT rights advocate.

She was made an OBE for services to transgender equality.

Formula One driver Lewis Hamilton's decision to accept his knighthood may cause controversy after he attributed his enormous success on the track to being inspired by the Black Lives Matter movement.

Speaking on BBC Radio 4 on Boxing Day, he said: "It was a different drive than what I've had in me in the past, to get to the end of those races first so that I could utilise that platform (for Black Lives Matter) and shine the light as bright as possible."

Activist Gina Martin, who was responsible for the implementation of criminalisation of upskirting - the act of taking a photo underneath someone’s clothes without their consent - rejected the offer of an OBE as she felt it would be “deeply hypocritical” of her to accept the honour whilst “continuing to be vocal about [her] commitment to anti-racism and understanding the deep and unsettling race issues the British Empire has built into the foundations of this country”.

Author Benjamin Zephania was offered an OBE in 2003. He rejected the honour, writing “I get angry when I hear that word "empire"; it reminds me of slavery, it reminds of thousands of years of brutality, it reminds me of how my foremothers were raped and my forefathers brutalised.”

Labour leader Kier Starmer has not brought light to his thoughts on the topic, but has distanced himself from the Shadow Education Secretaries comments saying he thought the system to recognise people for public service and charity work was "a good thing".

Despite complaints, a parliamentary petition to remove the word empire from the honours system only attracted 156 signatures in six months.

A petition must reach 10,000 signatures for the Government to respond, and 100,000 to be considered for debate in Parliament.

The petition will expire on January 7.