Motion S5M-03276: Lynne Woods OBE

10 Feb 2017

That the Parliament notes the comments by the television presenter and cancer campaigner, Lynn Faulds Wood, who, it understands, turned down an MBE in the New Year Honours; agrees with her comments that the current UK Honours system is “not a fair system” and that she “would love to have an honour if it didn’t have the word empire on the end of it. We don’t have an empire in my opinion”; understands that she said she “just wouldn’t accept it while we still have party donors donating large amounts of money and getting an honour”; further understands that she would like to see an appraisal of the Honours system and said “let’s drag us into the 21st century”; agrees with her statement that “we are a very backward looking country at the moment. We shouldn’t have lords and ladies and sirs. We should give people honours, yes, because plenty of people deserve them”, and is impressed by her integrity as somebody who would deserve an honour but considers that the present system is far too flawed to take part in it.