5 JULY 1975, Page 5

Imperial titles

From Professor G. L. Huxley

Sir: The United Kingdom ceased to be an imperial power years ago, and now, having joined the EEC, the country is not even an autonomous nation-state. To perpetuate therefore, in United Kingdom Honours Lists titles such as KBE, CBE, OBE, MBE and BEM, is both absurd and dishonest. So I write to express the hope, through the courtesy of your columns, that Her Majesty's advisors will devise an appropriate nomenclature to replace the present obsolete one before the next Honours List is published.

George Huxley The Queen's University of Belfast, Belfast, Northern Ireland