More ordinary citizens should be awarded honours, say MPs

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.

Far too few are being awarded to ordinary citizens for the extraordinary contributions they make to their communities - which is what the honours system should be for.

There should be no 'automatic' honours for people who hold a certain post, or for celebrities and sports stars at a certain level, but too often it seems this is still the case.