Not much more to be done for England's 66 World Cup squad. Perhaps a knighthood of the early bath for John Motson. Sheer poverty of candidature says it's time to move on. We have, more or less, done away with the House of Lords, just as we have done away with the British empire. The aristocracy are out of the legislative action and, with their passing, the whole washing line of honours bestowed looks glumly ropey, too.
Real distinction is easy to discern and easy to honour appropriately.
It comes from doing something special - whether ferrying food parcels to Kosovo or being Doris Lessing. It has nothing to do with making money or sitting behind a desk. It has nothing to do with quangos either - or running when Hollywood calls. The essential concept is valued added. John Scott Bedlington MBE has given his life to the sufferers from asbestosis.