The Sunday Times newspaper has published papers leaked from Whitehall, which
show the names of people who have rejected OBEs, CBEs and other honours.
The list shows more than 40 people who have turned down awards offered by
Tony Blair's government, often for political reasons, or views that the honours
system is out-dated and encourages elitism.
French and Saunders are among those refusing to accept the award, which was
offered for "services to comedy drama" in 2001. Dawn French's husband and
fellow comedian, Lenny Henry, had previously rejected an honour from the former
conservative government under John Major, but did later accept an OBE from Tony
Blair. John Major was also turned down by John Cleese, who rejected a CBE
for "services to entertainment".
Those offered honours are sworn to secrecy, so it is very rare for the names
of people who reject the awards to be made public.
