1993 reviews of the British honours system
Major's review abolished the minimum rank requirements for certain civilian awards when made to military personnel and ended the practice of making awards purely on the basis of the recipient holding a certain appointment in the public or private sector (with the exception of High Court judges who were still to automatically become knights or dames).
As a means of increasing the proportion of awards made to community figures and the voluntary sector he introduced direct nominations from the general public.
The review considered creating a medal for the mention in dispatches award, but decided against this though the existing insignia, an oak leaf, was upgraded to silver (from bronze).
The Ministry of Defence started a joint services (army, navy and air force) review in March 1993.
This reported later that year and Secretary of State for Defence Malcolm Rifkind announced, on 17 October 1993, that the distinction between officers and other ranks in the issuing of gallantry awards would be abolished.
The requirements were retained by some Commonwealth realms which use the British honours system, though the number of such awards is proportionally very low.
[5] Candidates who would have previously been recommended for the BEM would receive appointments as members or officers of the Order of the British Empire instead.
[3] Existing holders of the BEM were unaffected and Major increased the number of MBE appointments to make up for the abolition of the medal.
[2] Major ended appointments to the Imperial Service Order (ISO), which had a low public profile and was awarded mainly to civil servants.
Major brought forwards the next review to summer 1993 and requested that it consider increasing awards for the voluntary sector and the general public and adjust the proportion of awards made to civil servants, diplomats and military personnel to reflect their changed role and size in recent years.
[7]: 6–7 The withdrawal of the BEM was criticised by some deputy lieutenants as disenfranchising part of the community, who might not be eligible for higher honours.
While prime minister Tony Blair's government at the time reaffirmed its commitment to Major's principle of awards for merit they rejected the committee's recommendation for changes to the order.
Neil and Tim Finn of Crowded House were made OBE in the 1993 Birthday Honours, but this was still described as "surreal" in Q magazine.
After the change of government in 1997, which brought into power people much more attuned to pop and rock music, the numbers of people from these fields being honoured steadily increased[10] and, although no members of Oasis have yet been honoured, this trend has accelerated over time, with MBEs eventually being given to grime pioneers Wiley[11] and Dizzee Rascal.
[13]: 110 The Queen’s Commendation for Valuable Service in the Air, which had previously been used to recognise both meritorious conduct and gallantry, was replaced.
