Less Honourable?

Dear Editor,

I noticed on a calendar the names of all our MPs were preceded by the title ‘Hon’ (Honourable). I learnt from watching debates on television that United Kingdom MPs are titled Hon when addressed in Parliament by other parliamentarians. We probably inherited this custom of titling MPs Hon from the British.

I also found out that members of the Privy Council are titled the Right Honourable and there is yet a higher title, The Most Honourable.  Among those who use this title are Marquises and Marchionesses, or some groups such as the Privy Council which is titled Her Majesty’s Most Honourable Privy Council.

The Brits have this down pat as there is an organization that keeps an eye on these honorific titles. If there is such an organization here in Guyana, I recommend that two more titles be created for our MPs, namely, the Less Honourable and the Most Dishonourable. The first should be awarded to MPs who are dragged before the courts on charges of corruption, and the second to MPs who are convicted, regardless of the offence.

Yours faithfully,

Edward Gonsalves