BRITAIN: The British honours system would be changed radically if the government accepts proposals made yesterday by a committee of MPs.
They have suggested the ancient titles of "Sir" and "Dame" should be dropped and the Order of the British Empire scrapped and replaced by a new Order of British Excellence.
The Commons Public Administration said radical reform was needed of an honours system which was outdated, class-bound and too redolent of a long-gone imperial past.
It said that references to "Empire" in honours were now "unacceptable" in a country where many people no longer shared the values which it embodied.
It called for new targets to ensure that more honours went to women and people from the ethnic minorities to "reflect more closely the diversity of the UK population".
And it said that the system of awarding honours should be made fully transparent to allay suspicions that they were given as a reward for political favours or donations to the political parties.
Critics denounced the plans as "absurd" and accused the committee of pandering to "political correctness".
The committee's report comes as the government is conducting its own review of the honours system under the permanent secretary at the Department for Constitutional Affairs, Sir Hayden Phillips.
The committee said that while there was still "solid" support for the honours system, changes were necessary.
"The title 'Order of the British Empire' was now considered to be unacceptable, being thought to embody values that are no longer shared by many of the country's population," it said.
"This is anachronistic and insensitive, an inappropriate symbol for today's Britain. The United Kingdom has an increasing diverse population, many of them with links to the countries of the former empire, and they are often uneasy at something that reminds them of imperial dominion."
The new order should, as far as possible, mirror the old one, with three levels - Member, Officer and Companion (replacing the old Commander), retaining the old initials of MBE, OBE and CBE.
It said the only other national honour - apart from those in the personal gift of the queen - should be the Companion of Honour and that knighthoods and damehoods should be phased out over a five-year period. - (PA)