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Topic: Apple

Former British PM blocked knighthood for Steve Jobs

Summary: Steve Jobs was reportedly denied a knighthood by former Prime Minister Gordon Brown, to be presented by the Queen, for turning down an offer to speak at a party political conference.

Zack Whittaker

By for iGeneration |

Gordon Brown, former prime minister, refused to give Apple founder Steve Jobs an honorary knighthood, in retaliation for Jobs turning down an offer to speak at Brown's party political conference.

The former Labour MP who put forward Jobs to receive the award from the Queen for services to technology, said that "no other CEO has consistently shown such a commitment" to the creation of stunning consumer products.

A knighthood in the realm of the Commonwealth is one of the highest honours available to ordinary citizens. As Jobs is not a resident or citizen of the Commonwealth, he is only allowed to receive an honorary knighthood, as Bill Gates did in 2005.

For non-Commonwealth citizens however, the knighthood is the highest honour available from the state to the citizen.

Whether Jobs wanted to keep politics out of his business or his face out of politics - or even if Jobs doesn't support the Labour party, it is unclear.

Though he wouldn't have been able to call himself 'Sir Steve', the honour is still highly sought after and only available to a handful per year.

Topic: Apple

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  • RE: Former British PM blocked knighthood for Steve Jobs

    Well that was pretty petty of Gordon
    mrlinux
    Reply Vote

  • Reagan was given one of these things

    after his administration sided with Thatcher's government over the Falklands/Malvinas conflict.

    As prestigious as this honor may be, it still has aristocratic trappings that do not agree with American sensibilities. Here in the US, the highest civilian honor is appropriately called the Congressional Medal of Freedom.
    Tech watcher
    Reply Vote

  • If an award is held hostage to individual political whims and prejudices

    Then the award has lost a great deal of honor, integrity and importance.
    kenosha77a
    Reply Vote

  • RE: Former British PM blocked knighthood for Steve Jobs

    So, let me get this straight. England wants to knight a person who makes shiny toys. And in the process of making those shiny toys, commits a number of health and labor offenses. Nice work England.
    hoaxoner
    Reply Vote

  • Britain has a problem

    Tony Blair was frequently accused of manipulating the honors system for partisan political reasons; this report suggests that Gordon Brown did the same (hopefully, David Cameron isn't following their example). If it's become standard operating procedure for British Prime Ministers to play these sorts of games, then perhaps the best way to clean up the system would be to allow the Queen to award knighthoods entirely at her own discretion (British monarchs have had such discretion on appointments to the Order of the Garter since the 1940s and it seems to work well), possibly advised by a specially constituted Privy Council committee on which incumbent politicians would hold no more than 1/4 of the seats (evenly divided between government and opposition).

    Since the awarding of knighthoods really has nothing to do with public policy, I don't think it would in any way undermine democracy or responsible government for ministers to recuse themselves from the process.
    John L. Ries
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