A Brucie Bonus at long last!

Brucie Bonus! Good game! Good game!

Today is Queen Elizabeth’s “Official Birthday.” She was 85 in April and her husband Prince Philip was 90 yesterday so between them they have clocked up some mileage and are not looking too bad on it. In the United Kingdom, the Queen's Official Birthday is now celebrated on the first, second, or third Saturday in June, although it is rarely the third. It is marked in London by the ceremony of Trooping the Colour, which is also known as the Queen's Birthday Parade. The Queen's Official Birthday does not coincide with when she was born. Edward VII, who reigned from 1901 to 1910, and whose birthday was on 9 November, in autumn, moved the ceremony to summer in the hope of good weather. The Queen celebrates her actual birthday on 21st April. The Trooping of the Colour is an impressive display of pageantry and is carried out by her personal troops, the Household Division, on Horse Guards Parade, with the Queen herself attending and taking the salute.


Trooping the Colour, Horseguards Parade, London

Each year in the UK the tedium of half empty newsrooms is relived by the tiresome bi- annual ritual of the Honours List where the Crown grants “honours” at New Year and on the Queen’s official birthday. The honours are a sundry lot of Knighthoods and various grades of medals. Heading it up are a list of celebs - Actors, public figures, community representatives and so forth who have received an “Honour from her Majesty the Queen” for some outstanding “service” or other. As always the list includes the great, the good, the deserving and the frankly baffling. The”Honours” list is always something of a dog's dinner, a mixture of Buggin's turn and the cheapest populism, and you don’t even see the lists of people who have quietly declined honours which might help you make sense of it all.


Mr and Mrs Queen at the Trooping of the colour

Two of the most notable omissions have been the popular entertainer Bruce Forsyth and a certain Ringo Starkey from Liverpool, better known as Ringo Starr, the oldest of the Beatles. Well some amends have been made this time as Brucie, our much loved veteran TV entertainer, has been rewarded with a knighthood, after a populist campaign launched last year. A collective sigh of relief was heard across Britain, quickly followed by a suitably awful pun: "Knight to see you, to see you knight." At 83 the evergreen entertainer Bruce Forsyth has finally got his long-predicted knighthood.


Knight to see you, to see you knight!

The nod comes in the Queen's 2011 birthday honours list – one of 965 people whose diverse services to society, including David Cameron's "big society", are recognised on Saturday. It’s ruffled Piers’ Morgan’s feathers who when he was overlooked in the New Year Honours and he said on Twitter: “Utterly ridiculous that Bruce Forsyth still hasn’t been knighted. What more must he do than be a multi-talented star for SEVEN decades?” Well maybe at 83 Bruce is expecting too much too soon?

Entertainer Bruce Forsyth says he is "very proud" after being knighted in the Queen's Birthday Honours. The recognition comes after years of campaigning by fans and a parliamentary Early Day Motion signed by 73 MPs. Sir Bruce's career has spanned almost 70 years, including presenting TV hits such as The Generation Game, Play Your Cards Right and, most recently, Strictly Come Dancing on BBC One. He is known for greeting audiences with his catchphrase, "Nice to see you, to see you nice."


Bang the drum for Ringo!

He was made an OBE in 1998 and a CBE in 2005 and since then there has been considerable speculation about when he might be knighted. A spokesman for the Cabinet Office, which manages the honours system, said: "Generally speaking, committees like to see another four or five years' further achievement or service before they start to consider a further award."

Sir Bruce said;

"I feel very proud that my career hasn't been in vain. I just love getting out there and performing and this is a reward that I never expected and hope I'm worthy of."

Who else has been overlooked? He is the man who has touched the lives of three generations of music fans with his genius, the man who was one quarter of the greatest band ever to walk the Earth? And, last but not least, the man who provided the voice for Thomas the Tank Engine. And if dodgy singles are the criteria for a knighthood? Well, then he has certainly had a few of those in his solo career. That man is, of course, Ringo Starr, who will once again not arise as “Sir Ringo.”


Don't arise, Sir Ringo!

http://daithaic.blogspot.com/2008/01/arise-sir-ringo.html

So there you have the 2011 “Birthday Honours List” - a lot of Establishment flotsam with some celeb froth on top and a leavening of token Proles. Now I’m not against Civilian Honours but this Bastard Child of Empire is well past its sell by date in terms of titles, relevance and honesty and badly needs an overhaul – taking the awards for flunkeys (the Royal Victoria awards which are for “personal service” to the Sovereign) and for time serving Police, Civil servants and Military out of it would be a good start. A second good start would be to make the whole process transparent and above board, they should be given in OUR name and not the Queen’s, Gawd Bless ya M’aam!


Arise, Sir Flunkey!

Lastly but not leastly let us abandon the whole Empire Brand. It is surely not relevant now that it is a collection of Rocks and Tax Havens maintained for Great Tory Supporting British Patriots to avoid contributing to the Common Weal. On a personal level it would spare those who have achieved Membership of the British Empire the embarrassment of realising that there is no longer an MBE / CBE/ OBE Clubhouse and they have to buy their celebratory drinks in Wetherspoons instead!

For the full Birthday Honours list see (if you must!);

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/birthday-honours--full-list-2295957.html

Trooping the Colour

London in Spring

Springtime seems to announce itself suddenly in London as the city casts off its winter coat and suddenly everything appears to be happening en plein air! So concerts, events, music, street theatre all come out of hiding and onto the streets and parks. One sure sign of spring is the great street celebration known as the London Marathon which 36,500 runners took part in on Sunday. The London Marathon is one of the biggest running events in the world, and is one of the five top world marathons that make up the World Marathon Majors competition which has a $1 million prize purse. It has been held each spring in London since 1981.



The other great sign of spring are the wonderful floral displays in London’s Parks, no more so than in my personal favourite St. James Park with its vistas of Buckingham Palace and Horseguards Parade over the entrancing lake bustling with wildfowl and a community of Pelicans, introduced by a Russian Ambassador in 1664.


London Eye from St James's Park

So after work the weather is just too dreamy to head straight home and it is time to get out again and walk to Green Park Station through the wonderful enclave of Queen Anne’s Gate, St. James Park, up the Mall to Buckingham Palace to view preparations for “The Wedding” and then along Queens Walk at the side of Green Park passing by some of the (few) remaining great houses of the aristocracy including Spencer House, the former townhouse of Lady Diana’s family.



Old Queen Street and adjacent Queen Anne’s Gate are set in the Birdcage Walk Conservation Area and contain some of London’s most striking William and Mary, Queen Anne and Georgian architecture.




Birdcage Walk


Queens Walk - Green Park





The Royal Parks which stretch from Kensington Palace to the Palace of Westminster owe their existence to the Restoration of the Monarchy after Cromwell’s Republic In 1660. At this time, England had a new King, Charles II. He wanted to be able to walk all the way from Hyde Park to St James's without leaving royal soil. With its royal, political and literary associations, St James's Park is at the very heart of London and covers 23 hectares (58 acres). With a lake harbouring ducks, geese and pelicans, St James's is also home to the Mall, the setting for many ceremonial parades and events of national celebration.





http://daithaic.blogspot.com/2009/04/st-jamess-park-london.html

The Green Park covers 40 acres and is an important link between St James's Park and Hyde Park in forming a chain of open spaces that contribute so much to life in the capital. Although situated so close to St James's Park, The Green Park is quite different in character. It is more peaceful with mature trees and grassland and is surrounded by Constitution Hill, Piccadilly and the Broad Walk.





In 2010, British and Chinese artists have created designs based on a 'seed theme'. Their deckchairs will be on display in the Royal Parks and the Shanghai Botanical Garden during the summer. The adventure also incorporates an educational programme in London and Shanghai - helping school children, plus a group of older people, explore the natural world and its portrayal through art. Their designs will also be reproduced as deckchairs in the Parks.









Since 2006, an eclectic mix of 70 visionary artists, cartoonists, fashion and interior designers, thespians, celebrity chefs, singers and taxidermists, children from nine schools and members of the Household Cavalry have helped to make Deckchair Dreams a reality. Together they have designed 81 original deckchairs that celebrate the trees, wildlife, and other rare and wonderful things of London's eight Royal Parks. They bring joy to the Parks and allow visitors to relax on works of art.
This is one of the great Joys of London; Art is always around whether it is in the wonderful collections in the National or Tate Galleries or in street displays like Cow Parade or the Elephants last year.

http://daithaic.blogspot.com/2010/05/elephants-of-old-london-town.html

In front of Buckingham Palace preparations are afoot the wedding on the 29th April of Prince William and Kate Middleton including the building of a Press Centre facing the Palace which will carry broadcasts of the “Great Event.” One is constrained from commenting further for One is Invited!





http://daithaic.blogspot.com/2011/03/one-is-invited.html










Time then to head back along the great ceremonial avenue The Mall in front of Buckingham Palace where over 600,000 people are expected to congregate next Friday. Outside Buckingham Palace is the Queen Victoria Memorial, which celebrates the days of the British Empire. The memorial includes not only the marble statue of Victoria and the glittering figures of Victory, Courage and Constancy, but also the ornamental gates given by the Dominions. These are the Australia Gate, South Africa Gate and Canada Gate. On the North side of the Mall are some of the great aristocratic houses still extant in London, Marlborough House, Lancaster House, The Palace of St. James and last but not least Clarence House.


Lancaster House

Clarence House is the official residence of The Prince of Wales, the Duchess of Cornwall, Prince William and Prince Harry. Designed by prolific architect John Nash, it was the home of The Queen and The Queen Mother between 1953 and 2001 and is attached to St. James’s Palace. By the side of Green Park is Queen’s Walk, laid out in 1730 for George III’s wife, Caroline of Brunswick-Stretlitz who gave her name to the Bird of paradise flower, in Latin Stretlitzia.


Clarence House

Along here some of the aristocratic houses survive most notably the glorious edifice of Spencer House restored by Lord Rothschild who is also the guiding force behind Waddesdon Manor.

http://daithaic.blogspot.com/2007/11/waddesdon-manor-buckinghamshire.html

From its conception, Spencer House was recognised as one of the most ambitious aristocratic town houses ever built in London and is, today, the city's only great eighteenth-century private palace to survive intact. Spencer House was built in 1756-66 for John, first Earl Spencer, an ancestor of Diana, Princess of Wales (1961-97). Situated in the heart of St James's, Spencer House is a short distance from St James's Palace, Buckingham Palace and the Palace of Westminster, and has a splendid terrace and garden with magnificent views of The Green Park.


Spencer House


John Spencer initially employed the Palladian architect John Vardy, a pupil of William Kent. Vardy was responsible for the external elevations of Spencer House and the design of the ground floor rooms including some of the furniture. James 'Athenian' Stuart, then newly returned from Greece, superseded Vardy as Lord Spencer's architect in 1758. As a result, the House became the first example in London of the application of accurate Greek detail to interior decoration, making it one of the pioneer examples of neo-classical architecture.

At the top of Queen’s Walk you come to Green Park Tube Station which is currently in the throes of redevelopment to provide disabled access before the 2012 Olympics. As part of London Underground's upgrade works to improve the accessibility and operation of Green Park tube station, a number of improvements are being made to The Green Park including:



Improved views both into and out from the Park. Improved appearance of the area around the Ritz Corner on Piccadilly. An opportunity to enhance the horticultural and ecological value of the area, with improved landscaping. A new entrance to the station, direct from the Park, including improved access for people with restricted or reduced mobility.



Coming out onto Piccadilly by Green Park station it is hard to believe this traffic clogged artery was once one of London’s most fashionable streets lined by more huge houses of the aristocracy. Foremost amongst these on the North side of Piccadilly was the house depicted in the movie about Georgiana Spencer, Duchess of Devonshire depicted in the movie “Duchess” starring Keira Knightly. Devonshire House in Piccadilly was the London residence of the Dukes of Devonshire in the 18th and 19th centuries. It was built for William Cavendish, 3rd Duke of Devonshire in the Palladian style, to designs by William Kent. Completed circa 1740, empty after World War I, it was demolished in 1924.

Before the early 20th century, many of Britain's peers maintained large London houses which carried their name, As a ducal house (only in mainland Europe were such houses referred to as palaces) Devonshire House was one of the largest and grandest, ranking alongside Burlington House, Montague House, Lansdowne House, Londonderry House, Northumberland House and Norfolk House. All of these, like most of the great London free-standing houses are now long demolished, apart from Lansdowne House, which is substantially altered by a road in front of it.


The former gates of Devonshire House incorporated into Green Park




Devonshire House - Past and present

Today, the site is occupied by offices, known as Devonshire House which incorporates the Northern entrance to Green Park Tube.

As we head towards London 2012 the Olympic Games in London next year these Royal Parks will play an important role in London’s hosting of the event. The Royal Parks will host some of the key venues for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games and planning permission has now been secured for each venue:

Greenwich Park - Olympic and Paralympic Equestrian Events; and elements of the Modern Pentathlon;
Horse Guards Parade Ground - Beach Volleyball;
Hyde Park - Triathlon and Marathon Swimming.

In addition to this a number of events will incorporate roads in the Royal Parks - including:

The Mall in St James's Park - will host the start/finish of Road Cycling; the Olympic and Paralympic Marathon and Race Walk;

Bushy Park - will be used for part of the Road Race Cycling route. The outbound route will enter the park at the north and then head south down Chestnut Avenue, and around the Diana Fountain. The course will not pass through Bushy Park on the return leg. The men's Time Trial cycling race will be held on 1 August 2012 and it will take in Chestnut Avenue and the Diana Fountain in Bushy Park along the route;



Richmond Park - will be used for part of the Road Race Cycling route. The outbound course for the road race will enter Richmond Park through Roehampton Gate, and then head west to leave the park through Richmond Gate. The return route will enter the park at Kingston Gate, and then head north to Richmond Gate where it will then head east to leave the park at Roehampton Gate.

The Royal Parks is also working with the Greater London Authority over plans for Hyde Park to host a Festival Live Site during the Olympic Games, providing Games coverage as well as cultural programmes.

One is invited!

One's majestic invitation

One is acutely embarrassed for had one not promised One’s Blogistas no more on *The Royal Wedding*? Then one’s principles go out the open window in the West Wing of one’s Castle for one receives unexpectedly one’s invitation to the Great Event which will cheer up Britannia and make it feel at ease with itself. When one has been subjected to the *Royal Magic* what is one to do?



With one being a republican with both a big and a small R the Celtic Sage is hardly an admirer of The British Crown. How could one be given their history in Ireland and one's belief that it is the people who are sovereign – One believes in being a citizen, one is not a subject?

Indeed one is also aware that the term “British” is somewhat of a misnomer. For the Britons were a Celtic people and one resents that strange union of two Low German Tribes, the Anglo-Saxons, expropriating the term used by Queen Boadicea and other true Britons to legitimise their Germanic hegemony. However they did give England its name, its language, its boundaries and its character so one must not be too intolerant – that in itself would be Germanic! But since poor King Harold bit ye Hastings dust in 1066 there have been no English Sovereign’s of England. There have been Norman French, Plantagenet French, Welsh Tudors, Scottish Stuarts, Dutch Orange Nassau’s and lastly German Hanover’s who have today (with only partial success) rebadged themselves as Windsor’s after toying for a while under Victoria with the snappy Saxe-Coburg Gotha!


One's son (say no more!) and grandson

So now one is left with important choices between now and the Great Event on the 29th April. One perforce must accept for one is commanded! But after that what is one to wear, Uniform, Morning Coat or Lounge Suit? If one chooses uniform is one to wear Kilt, Military, Boy Scout or Nurse? What does one give as a present? Diego Garcia has already been given to the Yankee Colonists despite their disloyalty to Farmer George, the Punjab is just not the same after partition and Ireland has already been given to the IMF and the European Central Bank? The invitation is also not just for one’s self but also for one’s Consort. But does one bring one’s Official Consort or one’s unofficial Consort? Tricky one this, one must take advice from an expert like HRH Prince Andrew who is presently reconnecting with the people of this United Kingdom after losing his Air Miles Card.



No doubt one will be pressurised to share the base cynicism of the vulgar press about the Royal Guffitis between now and Friday April 29th as the Royal Propaganda machine and its fellow travellers gets into “God Bless you Ma’am “mode with every inconsequential detail puffed up for posterity. No doubt the low point for one will be when the leaders of the ConDem Coalition Dave “Common Man” Cameron and Nick Clog take time off from Nation Breaking to jointly broadcast that they are sharing “The Joy of the Nation!” However now one has an invitation one will have no truck with such proletarian rabble who should be transported to the colonies without delay for one is now different. One is invited!

One's chance meeting with Wills and Kate at Marylebone Station

http://daithaic.blogspot.com/2011/02/wills-and-kate-marylebone.html


One's future Head of the Firm and Consort

Indeed speaking of the aforementioned Republic of Éire one is gratified that her Britannic Majesty is visiting that benighted Isle with its equally benighted people, the first visit by the head of the firm in 100 years. Indeed one is confident Her Majesty will ignore the Little Leprechaun carping of a person with a beard (never a good sign) called Gaddafi Adams who meanly whines;

“There are still a lot of legacy issues that need to be resolved. I don't think this is the right time for the English queen to come here. I don't think we can afford it, apart from anything else. As we continue to build a new dispensation, then all of those things are possible, but not now.”


Gaddafi Adams leader of the group renamed "Gerry and the Peacemakers." Note the dreadful beard, one should never have one unless one is in the Navy.


Indeed one suspects with Gaddafi Adams timing is everything. A time to kill, a time to live, a time to bomb, a time to vote, a time to be a Fascist, a time to be a Democrat, a time for an Armalite, a time for the ballot box, a time for War, a time for Peace. One would not be surprised if the Provisional Shinners had as one’s slogan for the unwashed masses “One’s time is come.”

But truly one does not care for truly one is invited. One is most gratified!

See the story of the "Great Day."

http://daithaic.blogspot.com/2011/04/ones-first-wedding.html




One's ancestor Queen Victoria visiting the Celts

New Year Dishonour

Each year in the UK the tedium of half empty newsrooms is relived by the tiresome ritual of the “New Year’s Honours List.” Heading it up are a list of celebs - Actors, public figures, community representatives and so forth who have received an “Honour from her Majesty the Queen” for some outstanding “service” or other. As always this year's list includes the great, the good, the deserving and the frankly baffling. The ”Honours” list is always something of a dog's dinner, a mixture of Buggin's turn and the cheapest populism, and you don’t even see the lists of people who have quietly declined honours which might help you make sense of it all.

Well if only Her Maj actually drew up the list for what you have behind the showbiz froth and the pre-packaged spin at the top of this highly patronising and selective Imperial Awards system from the days of the King / Queen Emperors which in reality is drawn up by a secretive and opaque committee of Whitehall timeservers based on “Buggins Turn” nominations from “approved organisations.” So most of it is a roll call of time servers, Nabobs, Apparatchiks, Panjandrums and assorted flunkeys who are being “honoured” for actually just doing their jobs. Indeed many of them have been paid for every day they have worked and no doubt for many days they haven’t!

Personally I crack up just reading the bumptious detail of the New Year's Honours list! For instance reporter Sandy Gall gets an OBE for "Services to the People of Afghanistan"! Do they know about his services? Did the People of Afghanistan even notice? Other luminaries on the list include Mrs Carolyn Tracy Edwards. Grade C1, Ministry of Defence. (Chorleywood, Hertfordshire) - Hold me back! Mrs Elizabeth Barton. Grade B1, Ministry of Defence. (London, SW9) We can only imagine the great service she has given! How about David Kelly, Chief Constable, Sovereign Base Areas of Akrotiri and Dhekelia. Now there is a man sacrificing himself in the Sun for the Empire, a Chief Constable (with the salary and all the perks) for two British Army bases with a population of 15,000 people and a base prison on Cyprus! Indeed this man is so self sacrificing in the cause of Empire that he is double jobbing, already getting a full pension from his previous UK post before moving into his villa on Cyprus.


No Brucie Bonus? Bad Game! Bad Game!

But look at who has been left out of these “New Year Honours.” Commiserations once again to Bruce Forysyth, our much loved veteran TV entertainer, who has not been rewarded with a knighthood, despite a campaign launched earlier this year. It’s ruffled Piers’ Morgan’s feathers who said on Twitter: “Utterly ridiculous that Bruce Forsyth still hasn’t been knighted. What more must he do than be a multi-talented star for SEVEN decades?” Well maybe at 84 Bruce is expecting too much too soon?


Don't arise Sir Ringo?

Who else has been overlooked? He is the man who has touched the lives of three generations of music fans with his genius, the man who was one quarter of the greatest band ever to walk the Earth? And, last but not least, the man who provided the voice for Thomas The Tank Engine. And if dodgy singles are the criteria for a knighthood? Well, then he has certainly had a few of those in his solo career. That man is, of course, Ringo Starr, who will not arise as “Sir Ringo.”

http://daithaic.blogspot.com/2008/01/arise-sir-ringo.html

But the thresholds for these knighthoods are high which is why they were awarded to “Sir Gas Bill” and the man who has presided over British Airways most disastrous period. Roger Carr, the tycoon who saw through the sale of the 200-year-old British company Cadbury to the US multinational Kraft in February, has been knighted for services to industry in the New Year Honours list. Sir Roger was praised by the City for getting a good deal for shareholders when the Cadbury sale went through in February. Since then Kraft has announced that it is moving the firm's headquarters to Switzerland to avoid UK tax, at a probable cost of thousands of UK jobs.


Arise Sir Gas Bill and destroyer of British Jobs! Roger Carr

The award is doubly controversial because Sir Roger also chairs Centrica, the parent company of British Gas, which recently announced a 7 per cent price hike. Soon after that announcement, Centrica raised its full year profit forecast to more than £2.2bn. The regulator, Ofgem, is holding an inquiry into whether major energy companies are "lining their pockets".

The other flying Knight Martin Broughton as chairman of British Airways has been at the centre of a bitter dispute with the airline's cabin crew, the disastrous opening of Terminal 5 and the wholesale abandoning of customers during the volcanic ash incident during the summer, not to mention various prosecutions for flouting Competition Law. This is probably why he is being knighted for “Services to Aviation” and not to Customer Services. It does beg the question, what does the Chairman of British Airways have to do not to get a knighthood?

Their appearance on the New Year Honours list runs counter to the Downing Street spin that the 2011 list principally recognises those who have contributed to David Cameron's idea of the Big Society. Fewer than three-quarters of the 997 people on the New Year’s list are said to be "local heroes who have undertaken outstanding work in their communities". Officials conceded that today's list contains the same proportion of local philanthropists as ever.



The list includes Kathleen White, who has worked at a Post Office in Claverley in the Black Country for 68 years and is awarded an MBE and there is the usual quota of School Dinner Ladies and Lollipop ladies. Some years ago the then Prime Minister, John Major, decided that the process should be made more open and the class bias in the honours list should be tackled. Previously upper class personages and Government flunkeys received an MBE (Member of the British Empire) but those who were of “insufficient station” (i.e. Working Class) received a BEM (British Empire Medal) – essentially the same award for the lower classes. However despite these stated good intentions the BEM is still retained on honours given to Caribbean and British Overseas Territories (What we used to call Colonies). Obviously Carlton of the FO decided equality was a step too far for the tinted folk? Indeed when John Major’s “classless” list was introduced a paper seller who had taken over a family pitch near my office and sold the Evening Standard for 35 years received an MBE for “services to Newspapers.” A fine person who inherited her family pitch and was always chatty to customers I’m sure but what did she do to deserve an MBE? A silly question as most of her customers were Home Office Civil Servants!

Among the OBEs are guitarist and songwriter Richard Thompson, once of Fairport Convention but also a writer of lyrics for Robert Plant and Elvis Costello; veteran lyricist Herbert Kretzmer, whose career encompasses newspaper, television and theatre criticism, songs for That Was the Week That Was, and the lyrics for the long-running musical version of Les Misérables; and Manchester-born actor Burt Kwouk, the long-suffering manservant Cato in the Pink Panther movies, who is honoured for helping to pave the way for other actors from the Chinese community.


Arise Sir Flunkey!

The former Eurythmics singer Annie Lennox receives an OBE, not for her musicianship, but for her services to Oxfam and Aids charities in Africa. She said: "As somewhat of a renegade, it either means I've done something terribly right – or they've done something terribly wrong.”

So there you have the 2011 “New Years Honours List” – a lot of Establishment flotsam with some celeb froth on top and a leavening of token Proles. Now I’m not against Civilian Honours but this Bastard Child of Empire is well past its sell by date in terms of titles, relevance and honesty and badly needs an overhaul – taking the awards for flunkeys (the Royal Victoria awards which are for “personal service” to the Sovereign) and for time serving Police, Civil servants and Military out of it would be a good start. A second good start would be to make the whole process transparent and above board, they should be given in OUR name and not the Queen’s, Gawd Bless ya M’aam! And lastly but not leastly let us abandon the whole Empire Brand. It is surely not relevant now that it is a collection of Rocks and Tax Havens maintained for Great Tory Supporting British Patriots to avoid contributing to the Common Weal. On a personal level it would spare those who have achieved Membership of the British Empire the embarrassment of realising that there is no longer an MBE / CBE/ OBE Clubhouse and they have to buy their celebratory drinks in Wetherspoons instead!

For the full 2011 list see;

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/honours-list/8231975/New-Year-Honours-List-2011-in-full.html


Jenson Button - For Services to Tax Exile