Honours flummery that Wales can do without

Jan 31 2008 by Tomos Livingstone, Western Mail

As the Assembly Government considers introducing Welsh honours system, Political Editor Tomos Livingstone wonders whether it’s what Wales really needs

PICTURE the scene. A cold wind blows around Caernarfon Castle on March 1, 2009. Dignitaries shiver as Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau echoes around the ancient walls. Shirley Bassey, Joe Calzaghe, and, um, Ryan Giggs step forward to receive the Order of St David. A grateful nation applauds, before retreating indoors where it’s warm.

Fantasy? Not quite. The Assembly Government discussed something very similar in December at a Cabinet meeting – the minutes have just been released – noting that Mr Calzaghe had won BBC Sports Personality of the Year and may deserve another award.

Conservative AM David Melding added a bit of colour to the idea by proposing the “Order of St David” title and the appropriately royal-tinged venue. But do we really need yet more ceremonies to ensure that people are, in the curious words of a BBC report on the subject yesterday, “honoured by their own country”?

The cynical would suggest that the same Cabinet has yet to pass any new laws under the new devolution settlement, and should concentrate on doing that before they start pinning medals onto sportsmen.

Other nations cope very well without all this flummery. Ireland, a country we don’t learn enough from, manages very well without any honours system at all. It only gets concerned about it when it has to think of some other way of welcoming foreign dignitaries – freedom of the city of Dublin usually does the trick.

And there already is a UK honours system, and therein, I suspect, lies the rub. The lack of honour, thus far, for other big Welsh names – for example the 2005 rugby Grand-Slam winning team – seems to be the trigger for the Cabinet’s initial discussion, suggesting that a Welsh honour might act as some sort of consolation prize.

The other context, of course, is an increasing suspicion about the way the existing honours system works. The “cash-for-honours” scandal, of course, was about seats in the House of Lords, a different proposition, but the feeling remains that the honours system as it stands isn’t exactly fair.

Senior civil servants and the military still do very well – although less well than they used to. Around 14% of awards go to servants of the state (in the late 1960s it was closer to 40%), more than the proportion going to those working in education (around 10%).

So the opportunity to bypass that system and introduce a Welsh-only award has a certain fresh-start attraction. As Plaid AM Leanne Wood said yesterday, there is an opportunity to redress the balance.

“I think that we should honour public sector workers who go the extra mile over and above the call of duty,” she said. “We cannot have an elitist system. If we are to have an honours system in Wales, let’s have one owned by the people of Wales rather than the Establishment.”

It’s a myth, incidentally, that Wales is somehow under-represented when the twice-annual list of gongs is handed out. According to the Commons Public Administration Select Committee, which looked at the issue in 2004, Wales has 5% of the population and gets 6% of the honours. It’s English regions like the north-west that lose out.

Intriguing possibilities abound if the plan for “Welsh honours” ever gets off the ground. Who will present them? (The Queen is unlikely to be amused at the notion, I’d guess). Will people turn them down (please notify media)? Will a pop star later send one back in protest at a contentious Order in Council?

And are there enough people to honour to keep the system going, once the usual suspects have been given theirs? Perhaps it’s a job for that other great Welsh institution, the committee, to consider.

As may already be obvious, I’m not a huge fan of the idea. The UK honours system is very flawed – does anyone still want to be a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in these post-colonial days? – but whether a parallel Welsh system is the answer is open to doubt.

As a nation we often criticise ourselves, and each other, for our in-built dislike of admitting we’re might be good at something, of making a fuss about it.

But that isn’t always a negative trait. Getting on with it quietly can be a virtue too. Wales in the 21st century is in need of plenty of things – just look at the GDP figures if you don’t agree – but another ceremony in the springtime daffodils isn’t one of them.