Sir Keir Starmer not offended by honours and titles associated with British Empire
14 December 2020, 12:26
Sir Keir Starmer not offended by honours and titles associated with British Empire
Sir Keir Starmer has said he doesn't personally find honours and titles associated with the British Empire to be offensive.
The Labour leader was responding to comments by his fellow Labour MP Kate Green.
Ms Green criticised 'Order of the British Empire' titles, claiming they're "divisive" as well as "offensive and hurtful to people".
Responding to the remarks while speaking to LBC's Nick Ferrari, Sir Keir said: "In the civil service, I saw people who worked really hard and across different sectors and school teachers as well.
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"And to be recognised by the honours system meant the absolute world to them in terms of the contribution [they had made].
When asked by Nick if receiving his knighthood meant the world to him, Sir Keir said: "It did to me, yes.
"Partly, one of the reasons I took the knighthood was on behalf of my staff at the Crown Prosecution Service because for them it reflected what they had done as well as what I had done.
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"But more importantly in a sense, if you look across the lists, whenever I see the honours list I go through the list and look at who they are and what they're getting it for.
"And it's really interesting to see the people who have [done] charitable work [and] public service [and] the things the people have put in that they get rewarded for.
"And I think that's a good thing."
