End to gongs for the boys

TOO many honours are awarded to politicians, celebrities and civil servants rather than to people who devote time and effort to their local communities.

The Commons Public Administration Select Committee has condemned the granting of knighthoods to businessmen and senior officials for simply “doing the day job”.

It called for a radical overhaul of the system. In its report, the committee said that honours should only be given for “exceptional service above and beyond the call of duty”.

The committee said there was still a perception that celebrities and sports stars were more likely to be honoured than ordinary people.

Bernard Jenkin, the committee chairman, said: “The public values the honours system and it commands a significant degree of public confidence, but people still say that honours 
appear to be awarded through 
a mysterious process by the 
various committees to the usual suspects they already know.”