Are honours awarded to the right people?

SPORTS stars and entertainers are well rewarded, so why are they recognised in the Queen’s Birthday honours? Honours should go to volunteers working for their fellow citizens for no reward and those who keep vital services running. Why reward the famous and the friends of the political elite? JOHN MARTIN, Ickenham, Middx. MY Father-in-law served in the Army for most of his life, before taking a civilian role in the officers’ mess. When the colonel asked him if he would accept an MBe, he replied he had been a member of the British empire all his life and didn’t need a medal to tell him that. It’s time to do away with these silly titles. When prime ministers give honours away like sweets, they lose all meaning. JOHN WIGGLESWORTH, Durrington, Wilts.

I’VE nothing against J. K. Rowling, Delia Smith and Billy Connolly, but their honours — two Orders of the Companion of Honour and a knighthood — compared with a miserly MBE to George ‘Johnny’ Johnson, the last Dambuster, makes me ashamed to be British. George devoted much of his life to promoting his squadron’s memory and supporting Armed Services charities — not by writing a cheque, but by action, as he did in the war. Dr PETER HILTON, Haverfordwest, Pembs.

NO One should get a gong for doing what they’re paid to do, unless they have gone way beyond the call of duty, as the police, paramedics and firefighters all too often do. BARBARA THOMAS, Billingshurst, W. Sussex.

THE more famous you are, the more superior the gong, irrespective of what you’ve achieved. That is what our potty honours system is all about. GRAHAM ANDREWS, Bideford, Devon.