The British Imperial Establishment, Post Imperial Era, and the ‘Churchillian’ World View, 1945-2016. (Adjustments & Challenges in Contemporary British Diplomatic Strategy)

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Old
Etonians whom one finds in the government and various other organizations,
“have greater influence than
their numbers warrant because, being Old Etonians,
they have more contacts. They supply information about
other Old Etonians who
are influential in other walks of life; they are go-betweens, they are the
instrument
of compromises in the sectors of British political, social and economic life in
which they
are numerous.”26

Connection of the honours system with career promotion provides an
effective mechanism to control the
cohesion of the elite. For example, “although
the Order of the British Empire is the normal order for
Civil Servants, those in
the Foreign Office and the Diplomatic Service normally receive honours in
the
Order of St. Michael and George. Honours below the level of CBE are used in a
relatively
non-discriminatory way, but the CBE (or CMG) itself is awarded more
or less automatically on promotion to the
level of Assistant Secretary. Under
Secretaries can expect a Commandership in the most prestigious Order of
the
Bath (CB), whilst those who are promoted to Deputy Secretary are well placed
for a Knighthood in the
Order of the Bath (KCB), and those who continue to give
services at this level might become superior Knights
Grand Cross (GBE).”27

What
public school and ancient universities do for the children of the elite,
the House of Lords does for many
successful men at a later age. “The House of
Lords is more than a mere symbol; it is a concrete proof of
the permanence of a
social hierarchy in Britain; it is even to some extent a meeting place for
people
belonging to different branches of the managerial and professional worlds. The
title counts, but
also the club itself. The Upper House provides a platform not
only for the more prolix or less busy generals,
businessmen, lawyers,
administrators, and politicians who have become peers, but even for the
others,
because it enables them to defend their point of view or their interests if their
views are
attacked or their interests threatened.”28

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