Rail boss gong ‘like awarding captain of Titanic’
THE decision to bestow a royal honour on the Network Rail boss against a backdrop of huge disruption for train passengers in recent weeks has been criticised.
Mark Carne receives a CBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours, on a list that also sees Oscar-winning actress Emma Thompson made a Dame.
Remarkable females including a nun fighting modern slavery and a businesswoman who made her fortune in fake tan are among those honoured in this 100th anniversary year of women’s suffrage – although men outnumber women on the list.
The Department for Transport admitted the timing of the announcement of the outgoing chief executive’s award for services to the rail industry following timetabling issues is “unfortunate”, but added that recent problems should not detract from his overall service.
But one union boss likened the timing of the honour to “rewarding the captain of the Titanic for jumping ship”.
Manuel Cortes, general secretary of the Transport Salaried Staffs Association, said: “Frustrated passengers will see no honour in that at all.”
As the NHS celebrates 70 years since its foundation, medics are recognised for their dedication, with health sector workers making up 12 per cent of the 1,057 people honoured in the list.
They include Kathryn Halford, a nurse who cared for some of the UK’S first Aids and HIV patients, and later treated victims of the 7/7 terror attack, and was made an OBE.
Dame Emma, 59, who is described in the official citation of the honours committee as one of the UK’S most versatile and celebrated actresses, receives her honour for services to drama.
The Remains Of The Day and Nanny Mcphee star is joined on the list by fellow actor Tom Hardy, who is also recognised for services to drama, receiving a CBE, while Keira Knightley is made an OBE for services to drama and charity.
Following a wave of terror attacks which struck the UK in 2017, former assistant commissioner of the Metropolitan Police Mark Rowley, who led the national response, is honoured with a knighthood.
In the musical world, rapper and singer Ms Dynamite is honoured with an MBE, under her real name Niomi Mclean-daley, for services to music, while Mobo Awards founder Kanya King receives a CBE for services to music and culture.
Former Second World War nurse Rosemary Powell, who at 103 is the oldest on the list, is made an MBE for voluntary service to the Royal British Legion Poppy Appeal, having spent 97 years collecting for the charity.