NEWS that three islanders have been honoured with an MBE will please many islanders because the awards recognise the outstanding efforts the individuals have made in their own areas, efforts that have been far and away above anything that could reasonably have been expected of them.
And there was genuine pleasure among the large crowd invited to the Queen’s birthday reception at Government House on Saturday that their achievements had been noticed in such a public fashion.
In turn, however, there were some names missing from the list that, certainly on the evidence of previous years, islanders might have expected to see there.
Among them are the former Father of the House, Dan Le Cheminant, and the outgoing chief minister, Mike Torode. Both have given years of service to the community without looking for or expecting reward and would surely have been nominated.
The composition of the list has been changing under New Labour as it has sought to move away from ‘Buggins’s turn’ honours for Whitehall mandarins who had simply done the job for which they were paid. However, a look at the full list published on Saturday shows that there are still plenty of Bugginses about and politicians, too, who are being honoured.
While these are nominally the gift of Her Majesty, the reality is that they are intensely political and are blocked or approved by a Cabinet Office committee.
Which is why the latest omissions - including that of the Bailiff - will make islanders wonder whether the climate has changed to the detriment of these islands.
Conferring a knighthood on Guernsey’s Bailiff, its first citizen, has long been regarded as an indication of the standing and status the Bailiwick has as a Crown dependency in the eyes of the UK Government.
The Ministry of Justice, now responsible for the dependencies, is well aware of that and can be relied on to have supported local nominations.
The fear, then, is that formal recognition of Guernsey’s standing is being blocked at Cabinet Office level and possibly by very senior government figures.
Yet that does not sit well with Guernsey being a full member of the British Irish Council, having been approached by the government to join.
A reflection on Guernsey
NEWS that three islanders have been honoured with an MBE will please many islanders because the awards recognise the outstanding efforts the individuals have made in their own areas, efforts that have been far and away above anything that could reasonably have been expected of them.
And there was genuine pleasure among the large crowd invited to the Queen’s birthday reception at Government House on Saturday that their achievements had been noticed in such a public fashion.
In turn, however, there were some names missing from the list that, certainly on the evidence of previous years, islanders might have expected to see there.
Among them are the former Father of the House, Dan Le Cheminant, and the outgoing chief minister, Mike Torode. Both have given years of service to the community without looking for or expecting reward and would surely have been nominated.
The composition of the list has been changing under New Labour as it has sought to move away from ‘Buggins’s turn’ honours for Whitehall mandarins who had simply done the job for which they were paid. However, a look at the full list published on Saturday shows that there are still plenty of Bugginses about and politicians, too, who are being honoured.
While these are nominally the gift of Her Majesty, the reality is that they are intensely political and are blocked or approved by a Cabinet Office committee.
Which is why the latest omissions - including that of the Bailiff - will make islanders wonder whether the climate has changed to the detriment of these islands.
Conferring a knighthood on Guernsey’s Bailiff, its first citizen, has long been regarded as an indication of the standing and status the Bailiwick has as a Crown dependency in the eyes of the UK Government.
The Ministry of Justice, now responsible for the dependencies, is well aware of that and can be relied on to have supported local nominations.
The fear, then, is that formal recognition of Guernsey’s standing is being blocked at Cabinet Office level and possibly by very senior government figures.
Yet that does not sit well with Guernsey being a full member of the British Irish Council, having been approached by the government to join.
So just what is going on?
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