It is an honour to stand among the refuseniks

If there were any justice in this world, Benjamin Zephaniah would be honoured in the new year for blasting open the doors that guard the secrets of our archaic and dubious honours system and for making many of us think again about the perils and delusions that come into play when we accept medals from, and collude with, the British state. As he wrote in his poem "Bought and Sold":

If there were any justice in this world, Benjamin Zephaniah would be honoured in the new year for blasting open the doors that guard the secrets of our archaic and dubious honours system and for making many of us think again about the perils and delusions that come into play when we accept medals from, and collude with, the British state. As he wrote in his poem "Bought and Sold":

The lure of meeting royalty
And touching high society
Is damping creativity and eating at our heart.

The problem is that there is no way the people of this nation - at least those who believe he did the right thing - can show their gratitude to the talented black British poet for making public his refusal of an honour. Zephaniah exposed the sham. The letter you receive never actually offers you anything - it is conditional and smothered in confidentiality clauses. The writers assume you will not talk. He did. And now the light is on the dark and bizarre soundings behind the long awards lists that appear annually in the newspapers, announcing the names of those who can thenceforth call themselves members of the British Empire. There is no going back now. A national debate has started on how to have a better, fairer and less shadowy and corrupt system to honour deserving members of British society. The issue has not gone away since Zephaniah spoke up and since I, rather more humiliatingly, gave up my MBE.

The respected scientist Colin Blakemore was not accepted on to the list of the favoured, apparently because the Prince of Wales finds unacceptable his views on animal experiments. Blakemore is a vivisectionist. The heir to the throne refuses to shake hands with the scientist. This clearly had an influence on the decision that was taken to leave Blakemore grazing among the commoners.

Now secret documents have been published revealing the names of nearly 300 people who refused the offer of a medal or knighthood, 40 of them nominated under New Labour. The leaks are unprecedented - these lists of offers, acceptances and refusals are never, ever made public. The refuseniks are said to include Nigella Lawson, Jon Snow, David Bowie, George Melly, Michael Frayn, Honor Blackman, Dawn French (whose husband, Lenny Henry, accepted an OBE), Jennifer Saunders, JG Ballard and scores of others. In pre-Blair times, apparently, Graham Greene, Albert Finney, David Hockney, John le Carré, LS Lowry and Philip Larkin all said a polite "no" without making a fuss. It is obviously the coolest thing to do, to decline.

It has been an extraordinary three weeks. Zephaniah has had, he tells me, tidal waves of support and thanks from Britons of all backgrounds. But he has been denounced and pilloried both by the usual suspects and others who felt affronted and accused by his actions. For many he is a bad, dangerous, black Rastaman. In Shoreham-by-Sea, where my mother-in-law lives, the story is that dear Mrs Brown's nice daughter-in-law who deservedly got her MBE was bullied by this black dreadlocked devil into giving it back. There was no heroism in my decision, yet I have also had warm letters and e-mails, for which many thanks. And buckets of bile. I am Idi Amin's witch, a black bitch, an ungrateful, ungracious wretch and so on. Let me say this once more. People may criticise me severely and disagree with all that I say. They have, from as far away as India, where critics have been merciless in the main newspapers. For one British TV producer, my decision makes no sense at all, especially after I said I would probably like to get into the Lords as a people's peer someday. Ben Okri, the writer, and I had a brilliant, loud row at a party to mark 250 years since the setting up of the British Museum.

I am strong enough to take on Denis MacShane, who gleefully kicked my tender shins over this, and some among London's media crowd, who say I am attention-seeking or worse. But no one has the right to use my decision as an excuse to vent their poisonous racism or ask me to remember that I am a "guest" in their country. This is my land; it has been since my father got his treasured Blue British passport and placed it in a box in the bank. I will never be the humble native, the grateful coolie. So don't expect that. What's more I believe, as a full-blooded citizen of Britain, that I must challenge a system that so many find intolerable.

This is not about race and creed or individuals. I am never going to criticise people who do accept this form of recognition - there are good reasons why they do. And it is rubbish to claim that once you have a bauble and a photo you become an insider, unable to criticise the Government or Royals.

It is the structure, the symbolism, the significance and meanings embedded in the process that are in need of radical surgery. JG Ballard put it best: "This is a preposterous charade. Thousands of medals are given out in the name of a non-existent empire. It makes us look a laughing stock and encourages deference to the crown... It is exploited by politicians and always has been."

I was glad to read editorials in right-wing newspapers at the weekend which agree with me that such an overhaul is now essential. Everything needs to change; the whole edifice is corrupting and often senseless. If you get to become the chairman of the CRE (and there are only ever men chosen for this) you automatically get a knighthood. The women who lead the EOC are not automatically elevated in this way. Why? Other civil servants do time and expect a medal at the end of a pedestrian career. People give money to political parties to get their day at the palace. That should be disallowed. Let the political parties honour their donors with their own rites. Why should they be made into the heroes and heroines of the nation?

I know people with honours who feel squeamish about admitting it. Others think it of little importance - the historian Norman Davies for example, whom I know and respect hugely, says that I am gracing the award unduly with serious concern. He was given the CMG - otherwise known as "Call me God", he tells me - a subject of much mirth among his friends. Under a different scheme, maybe such awardees would feel proper pride.

Tony Wright is chairing a Commons committee that is looking into reforming the system. Excellent news. But let it not be a tepid, tinkering exercise which concludes merely that the word "Empire" should be excised so people can feel more comfortable about receiving medals. An independent commission should process names. Devolved structures should be put in place around the country so that men and women who contribute in their professions, through voluntary work, and in other ways are nominated. We should know who is offered medals and whether they have accepted or refused, and why. Royalists can have their day at the palace, but as for wedding ceremonies, an alternative rite should be available for avowed republicans.

Until that day comes, we need to keep the subject alive and burning, perhaps by getting big names to strategically return gongs week after week. With the Hutton report on the horizon, and the new Empire settling in, there must be many out there itching to register their contempt for Blair and the honours system. Do it guys. Do it now.

y.alibhai-brown@independent.co.uk

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