Knighthoods could be removed over offensive online comments
Knighthoods could be removed over offensive online comments
Robert MendickSun, September 6, 2026 at 7:30 AM UTC
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Nick Buckley was investigated by the forfeiture committee for comments it deemed offensive - SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images
Honours recipients can be stripped of knighthoods and other awards for posting offensive comments online, according to official guidance seen by The Telegraph.
Dignitaries risk the humiliation of having honours taken from them for comments that officials accept “do not amount to criminal conduct”.
Free speech campaigners believe that public figures will be put off accepting honours in future for fear of being stripped of the awards at a later date, including knighthoods and CBEs.
The Free Speech Union (FSU) said the emergence of the guidance showed the criteria for withdrawing awards were “far too broad”.
The secret guidance, obtained through a Freedom of Information request, states that “hate incidents”, which “cannot be prosecuted”, could lead to honours being removed.
It was produced by the forfeiture committee, which sits in secret and considers complaints made against honours holders.
Comments ‘motivated by hostility’
The guidance raises the prospect of honours recipients having awards removed for posting comments that are perceived as offensive on the basis of “protected characteristics”, such as race, gender identity or sexual orientation.
It draws on a definition of “hate incidents” used by police and prosecutors in which “the victim or anyone else thinks [the incident] was motivated by hostility or prejudice based on one of five prescribed characteristics – disability, race, religion, transgender identity or sexual orientation”.
The guidance was requested by Nick Buckley, who was awarded an MBE for his years of charity work with the homeless.
Mr Buckley, who had stood as an independent against Andy Burnham in the Great Manchester mayoral elections in 2021, was investigated by the forfeiture committee for a series of comments made on social media that had allegedly “brought the honours system into disrepute”.
The committee threatened to remove his MBE for comments it considered “beyond political comment”, “racist” and “homophobic”.
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In the end, Mr Buckley retained his award but pursued the committee, demanding to know its policy for controversial comments made online and in public.
In his letter to the forfeiture committee demanding it make its guidance public, Mr Buckley wrote: “Without a transparent policy, all honour-holders will be in a position where they feel unable to express their beliefs without jeopardising their honour.”
The forfeiture committee guidance states: “The overriding consideration for the committee should be the question: ‘Have the actions or inactions of the individual brought the honours system into disrepute?’”
It goes on: “A post on Twitter [now X] by a high-profile recipient, under an open account with hundreds of thousands of followers, would probably be judged more serious than the same post tweeted by an individual with a locked account that is not publicly accessible, and a small number of followers.
“The committee may wish to make a judgement about whether offensive conduct, including remarks, should be judged as less serious if the reach is smaller or whether, conversely, who the audience is matters more.”
The guidance also suggests the committee should look at the frequency of allegedly offensive posts while posts that do lead to “professional censure” or prosecutions “should be considered most seriously”.
In the last three years, 43 individuals have been stripped of their honours – about half of them for criminal convictions. But increasing numbers have had their honours removed for bringing the system into disrepute. Some of those have been for comments made online and in other public spheres.
Lord Ranger, a multimillionaire businessman, is suing the Government after he was stripped of his CBE for a series of offensive comments on social media. In his legal claim, he has alleged the forfeiture committee’s decision to strip him of the honour was “disproportionate” and will have a chilling effect on free speech.
The committee’s decision followed a ruling by the House of Lords standards watchdog that the Conservative Party donor had harassed and bullied Poonam Joshi, an Indian journalist and women’s rights campaigner, in a series of tweets.
Lord Young of Acton, founder and general secretary of the Free Speech Union, said: “The forfeiture committee’s criteria for recommending the withdrawal of an honour are far too broad and getting broader all the time, turning the committee into an instrument for enforcing progressive orthodoxy.”
He added: “If people know their honours could be withdrawn if they say something politically contentious that the committee disagrees with, even if it’s a perfectly legal, mainstream view, anyone Right of centre will think twice about accepting one in future.”
The Cabinet Office declined to comment.
Source: “AOL Breaking”
