Time to cancel The Gong Show

The Government doesn't seem to be able to put a foot right at the moment.  Last weekend's faux furore over Stephen Hester's bonus saw David Cameron talking out of both sides of his mouth and getting embarrassingly   outmanoeuvred, inside and outside the Commons,  by Ed Miliband. Now, the politically-inspired decision to rescind the knighthood awarded almost a decade ago to Britain's least popular man, Fred Goodwin, seems to be pleasing precisely nobody. Some, including Ed Miliband and much of the more left-leaning media, are wondering why the process of deknightification should stop with Goodwin; there are lots of begonged bankers out there just crying out for similar treatment. Others, including the more pro-business press and some senior politicians, think the whole thing looks too much like a witch-hunt. Here's a good summary of the arguments on both sides, from the BBC website.  

Removing a knighthood is not unprecedented, but it is rare. The last person to be so treated was Anthony Blunt, the Queen's personal art curator, who happened also to be a spy for the Soviet Union. Goodwin hasn't been accused of breaking any laws, so it seems he is being shamed for being (a) famous and (b) incompetent. It does seem odd that this would happen when at least one recently-created Peer of the Realm is serving time for fraud and other offences in a Florida prison, with no apparent threat of losing his precious peerage. (Long-term readers of this blog will need no further clues; for newer arrivals here's a hint: Fleet Street).

Surely the problem here is that the UK's "honours system" has got wildly out of control. At least twice every year (New Year and the Queen's birthday),  awards are given to huge numbers of people from all walks of life, in recognition for, on the most part, just doing their job. It's good to recognise genuine military or civilian heroes,  but is it really appropriate to bestow awards on people just because, at a particular moment, their face happens to fit?  Nobody would deny Corporal Johnson Beharry his Victoria Cross, but did we ever need Sir Fred Goodwin, or Sir Bruce Forsyth, or CBEs for every luvvie who manages to get through their career without falling off the stage?  

These awards have become every bit as devalued as GCSEs. They would be worth a lot more, both to society and to the recipients,  if there were a whole lot fewer of them.