Guernsey Press

Sir Kenny Dalglish and Dame Emma Thompson lead Queen’s Birthday Honours list

But the decision to make Network Rail boss Mark Carne a CBE has been criticised as it comes after weeks of disruption for passengers.

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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 Liverpool football great Kenny Dalglish knighted and Oscar-winning actress Emma Thompson made a dame.

(PA Graphics)
(PA Graphics)

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.”

Network Rail launches digital rail strategy
The Department for Transport said of a CBE for Network Rail chief executive Mark Carne was ‘unfortunate’ (Danny Lawson/PA)

As the NHS celebrates 70 years since its foundation, medics are recognised for their dedication, with health sector workers making up 12% of the 1,057 people honoured in the list.

Helen Bamber Foundation funding
Actress Emma Thompson is made a dame for services to drama in the Queen’s Birthday Honours (Jane Barlow/PA)

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.

Sir Kenny, who managed Liverpool at the time of the Hillsborough disaster and remained a steadfast support of the families in their lengthy quest for justice, said he was “hugely proud to have accepted the accolade” for services to football, charity and the City of Liverpool.

The 67-year-old Glaswegian and his wife Marina have also helped raise millions of pounds for cancer treatment through the Marina Dalglish Appeal after she successfully battled breast cancer.

‘The Justice Collective: He Ain’t Heavy…’ launch – Liverpool
Kenny Dalglish holds a copy of Hillsborough charity single He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother by The Justice Collective at its launch in Liverpool (Dave Thompson/PA)

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.

On his retirement in March after 31 years in policing, Sir Mark was praised by Prime Minister Theresa May for his “dedication to protecting public safety and tackling the evils of terrorism”.

Salisbury incident
Ex-Metropolitan Police Assistant Commissioner Mark Rowley is knighted in the Queen’s Birthday Honours (Kirsty O’Connor)

The brother of aid worker David Haines, who was murdered by Islamic State extremists, is made an OBE for his work against terrorism.

Mike Haines dedicated the honour, for voluntary service to tolerance and education in the UK and abroad, to his younger sibling, who was beheaded by Islamic State extremists in 2014 after being taken hostage in Syria.

Billionaire Jim Ratcliffe, the boss of chemical company Ineos who this year topped the Sunday Times rich list with £21.05 billion, receives a knighthood for services to business and investment.

Projekt Grenadier
Ineos chairman Jim Ratcliffe receives a knighthood (Ineos/PA)

Defoe said he felt “mixed emotions”, with the award coming almost a year after the death of six-year-old football mascot Bradley Lowery, with whom the player struck up a strong friendship as the little boy battled a rare childhood cancer.

Bradley Lowery illness
England footballer Jermain Defoe with terminally ill football mascot Bradley Lowery (Owen Humphreys/PA)

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.

Japan-born Nobel prize-winning author Kazuo Ishiguro, knighted for his services to literature, said he was “deeply touched to receive this honour from the nation that welcomed me as a small foreign boy”.

British Nobel Prize for Literature winner
British author Kazuo Ishiguro said he was ‘deeply touched’ by his knighthood (John Stillwell/PA)

Renowned war correspondent Kate Adie is made a CBE for services to media, while Stacey Dooley, known for her BBC Three investigative series covering topics ranging from the fight against Isis to the abortion debate, receives an MBE for services to broadcasting.

Among the politicians honoured are Conservative MPs Eleanor Laing and Bernard Jenkin, awarded a damehood and a knighthood respectively for their political and public service, while Labour’s Louise Ellman has also been made a dame for parliamentary and political services.

Holocaust survivor Ber Helfgott, also known as Ben, is knighted for services to Holocaust remembrance and education, one of nearly three-quarters of those on the honours list deemed to have undertaken outstanding work in or for their local community.

Stacey Dooley Investigates: Young Sex for Sale in Japan
BBC Three’s Stacey Dooley is made an MBE for services to broadcasting (Erica Jenkin/BBC/PA)

Veronica Donovan, a consultant midwife at Birmingham Women and Children’s NHS Foundation Trust is made an OBE for services to midwifery, while palliative cancer care specialist Debra Smith receives a BEM for for services to nursing.

In the business sphere, Judy Naake, who made millions selling St Tropez self-tanning products, initially from the back of her car, receives an MBE for services to entrepreneurship, the community and philanthropy.

Women: Inspiration & Enterprise
Jo Malone is awarded a CBE for services to the British economy and the GREAT Britain campaign (Matt Crossick/PA)

Sister Imelda Poole, president of European anti-trafficking network Renate, receives an MBE for services to combating modern slavery.

Howard Tucker is awarded a CBE for services to international justice for his past work as a member of the UN International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia.

A former policeman in South Wales, he went to work in Bosnia to help bring people to trial for war crimes committed during the conflicts there in the 1990s.

Of the total number recognised in the Queen’s Birthday Honours list this year, 210 have been made an OBE, 392 an MBE, and 318 awarded a BEM.

Forty-nine percent of the honorees are women, while 10% of all those on the list are from black and minority ethnic (BAME) backgrounds.

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