Modern honours

SIR – Reform of the British honours system is long overdue.

In a country that wants to be modern and forward-looking, it is ridiculous for anyone to be given the title of Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (CBE). Moreover, the existing system has much to do with privilege, which the majority of the population despises.

The system should be modernised, perhaps along the lines of the French Legion of Honour.

Jonathan Ward

Long Melford, Suffolk