In a bold statement, Labour MP Sir Ben Bradshaw has criticised the royal honours system, referring to it as a «patriarchal heteronormative relic».
This comes after he himself was awarded a knighthood at Windsor Castle, with his husband Neal Dalgleish proudly by his side. As one of the first openly gay MPs elected in 1997, Sir Ben Bradshaw has been a prominent figure in both Sir Tony Blair and Gordon Brown‘s governments.
However, despite his achievements and public service, he believes that the current honours system fails to acknowledge same-sex spouses in the same way it does for wives of knights. Speaking to the PA news agency, Sir Ben Bradshaw expressed his concerns about the lack of recognition for same-sex partnerships within this traditional framework, belfasttelegraph.co.uk reports.
