no, I think it makes it unique

yes, it's racist

No...times have changed.
I think it's alright

Racist? We should keep it! It's part of our heritage. Why wont everyone stop wanting to get rid of the Queen and the Pound and other British stuff? (yeh the Queen is part German but you know what i mean!)

Wow, how in the WORLD is that racist?

I think it can stay, it's not hurting anyone...

No, but the Queen ought to be a little more selective about it.

It should stay, there are too few traditions left in this day and age, but I do think selection should be different, too many famous people not enough hero's. Where the award for the fireman that's worked for forty years, saving a huge amount of lives? All they get is a carriage clock!!

No its a nice way of rewarding Civil Servants without having to pay them a lot.

"yes, it's racist"
Say what? Why and how, pray tell?

I don't see any problem with it. Its just an honorary title. I mean, you could just as well give them a medal or something. Its all symbolic anyway and has been for a long time.

No it's sexy.

I agree with Dina.

i don't see any reason why not

yes sounds old

Why does it matter if it sounds old? Don't most traditional practises?

It's good to have a way to honour people who have made a name for themselves in their field. We can't all make our actors state governors...

It's just another example of PC'ness gone crazy.

Oh no! We can't call our honours OBE's because it mentions that evil world emmpire and might insult a tiny minority of Indians (as an example) who might see it as racist.
Thus forgeting the fact that if there hadn't been an empire they'd probably still be ploughing a field just outside of Madras, rather than living comfortably in the UK.

Oh yes...British colonialism in South Asia was so wonderful and beautiful....as invasion, military occupation, massacres, repression, human rights abuses, and wholesale theft of natural resources always are!

Why don't you go to India and ask them about how they feel about the British era?? You probably won't get the answer you expect....and you might get spit on in the process.

That was a pretty thoughtless comment Kieren

Anyway, I don't see why we should get rid of it.

no! its nifty!

It was a deliberate comment designed to piss someone off Kaneda. My point being though is that some PC lefty has thought that this would be a good idea to apppease minorities and is absolutely pointless.

The majority of people who turn down knighthoods and the such are anti-royal or think that it is a political instrument, as shown today in the mail with the guy who invented the smallpox vaccine geting a knighthood and then donating £500,000 to the labour pary. Which i think is fair enough.

And Tsurimi i have been to India many times, i lived in Bangladesh also an ex-colony and they seem to have less of a chip on their shoulder than you do.

My spelling is terrible.

Kieren....I lived in Nepal for 3 years growing up. We constantly went to Delhi for various functions, and about half the students in the school I attended were Indians.

I guess you didn't get to talk to too many people about India's colonial past. Judging from your sensitivity to minorities, you probably wouldn't care anyway.

*By the way, I don't care if Sir or Dame is bestowed on anyone. Better that it is given to Paul McCartney and Mick Jagger than to war heroes or warmongers in my opinion.

Nah... if they like doing it, who are we to worry/care about it... it doesn't affect or harm anyone...

Keep it, it's part of British history, and everyone should respect that it our tradition, and remember that it rewards the good of society rathr than punishes the bad. There's to much bad press, we need good things as well

^^^ i agree wiht him....

As i said before tsurimi my first post was deliberatly inflamatory, i don't believe much of what i said except for it being a bit too PC. This country is getting far too politically correct and i think the arguement against giving people knighthoods is just another example of this. It's just another case of 'you can please some of the people some of the time but not all of the people all of the time'.

By the way did you go to the American school in nepal?