Former PM Gordon Brown and football legend Graeme Souness named to King’s Honors list – BBC News

Former Prime Minister Gordon Brown and former Scottish international footballers Graeme Souness and Ally McCoist were among the Scots recognized in the King’s Birthday Honors list.

Mr Brown became a Companion of Honor for public and charitable service in the UK and abroad.

Graeme Souness, who played for and managed Rangers and Liverpool, was made a CBE for his services to football and charity.

In October last year, he swam the English Channel to help raise £4.5 million for children affected by the rare and painful skin disorder epidermolysis bullosa.

Fellow Rangers legend Ally McCoist received an MBE while, also from the world of sport, golfers Sandy Lyle and Stephen Gallacher received an OBE and MBE respectively.

Meanwhile writer Armando Iannucci, creator of TV satire The Thick of It, was awarded a CBE for his services to film and television.

He said he was “delighted” by the award which he saw as a signal to continue defending the public broadcaster against “attacks on independence and funding”.

The Gordon Brown Award recognizes significant contributions to the arts, science, medicine, or government over a long period of time and is limited to 65 individuals at any one time.

He said: “I feel a little embarrassed as the opportunity to serve is an honor and my choice is to pay tribute to all the brilliant, unsung, local heroes who quietly and selflessly give of their time to contribute to the vitality of our community.

“I would like to thank those who have put my name forward and also thank my family and all those who have worked with me over the past 50 years in public life, to whom I owe everything.”

Others recognized included Jasmin Paris, an ultra-marathon runner from Gorebridge, Midlothian, who was awarded an MBE for services to long-distance running.

There was also a knighthood awarded to historian Professor Sir Niall Ferguson, who was behind the 2003 Channel 4 hit series Empire: How Britain Made The Modern World, and the best-selling book of the same name.

The Glasgow-born academic, who has written 16 books, said: “When someone is honored by the King, implicitly his formative influence is the actual recipient of that honour.

“Everything I have achieved is actually my grandfather and grandmother’s achievement; my parents, Molly and Campbell; my school, Glasgow Academy; my college, Magdalen, Oxford; and all the family members, teachers, mentors and friends who encouraged and supported me.”

Jane Spiers, chair of the National Theater of Scotland, was given an OBE for her services to culture in Scotland.

In a career in the arts spanning more than 40 years, he has been a producer, programmer, festival director, event manager and cultural policy advisor.

He said: “I’m still pinching myself. I feel so lucky to have spent a lifetime working in the arts and to now be given the honor of doing something I love.

“I can’t accept it without acknowledging all the people along the way, back and front of house, who have played a role in my life, encouraged me, believed in me, given me opportunities.”

A volunteer who helped restore the world’s last seagoing steamship, the PS Waverley, was also honored.

John Beveridge, 71, has been made an MBE for services to paddle steamer conservation and charity.

He said: “I was honored by the work I did on the Maid of the Loch, which was a shipwreck and sinking in the 1990s.

“I helped save Waverley in 1974 when she was given to the Paddle Steamer Preservation Society for £1.”

Beveridge described the ship, built in 1946, as “a great advertisement for Scotland”.

He added: “It’s been 25 years since I’ve been involved with the Maid of the Loch and volunteers are still helping to restore it.

“The aim is that he will sail again on Loch Lomond, hopefully one day.”

A grandmother who spent years helping Holocaust survivors before retiring aged 81 said she was “thrilled” to be recognised.

Myrna Bernard, from East Renfrewshire, was awarded the British Empire Medal for her services to the Jewish community and disabled people in Scotland.

Explaining his reaction to the news of the award, he said: “It was a surprise, it was a surprise, I was very moved and amazed and I was happy. It was very exciting.”

A volunteer who gave up work to help with the humanitarian response to the invasion of Ukraine has also been recognized in the honors list.

Hannah Beaton-Hawryluk, 63, from South Queensferry, near Edinburgh, has been made an MBE for her services to the Ukrainian community in Scotland.

Mrs Beaton-Hawryluk, whose Ukrainian father was forced to settle in Scotland after the Second World War, has raised £5.5 million since the invasion began in 2022.

He said: “I am grateful to be able to give up my job.

“The people who come here are so grateful for what they’ve been given – they came with nothing. My problems seem small in comparison.”

He added: ‘I hope that’s what my father would have wanted.’

Also made an MBE was Gerald Lobley, 79, from Kemnay in Aberdeenshire, who has spent 50 years teaching young people – including future Scottish champions – how to play chess.

Lobley, known for his services to chess in Scotland, said he was “flabbergasted” to learn he had been honored by the King.