Tony Wright

A Commons committee has condemned the current system of awarding honours and recommended radical changes to the process.

The public administration committee concluded that titles that refer to the "British Empire" and the awarding of knighthoods were "redolent of past preoccupations with rank and class".

The MPs recommended that they be phased out and advocates streamlining the present 16 awards down to a less confusing four.

They also concluded that the awards process is undermined by the suspicion that it is used as a political tool and that the decisions lack transparency and independence.

The report also attacks "automatic honours" for senior civil servants and diplomats that the MPs believe "create a sense of unfairness and undermine the credibility of the system".

Committee's chairman Tony Wright said that the current system had no relevance in a meritocracy.

"Honours are a way for the nation to recognise service and achievement," he said.

"In our view, the system now needs radical and systematic reform, which our recommendations are designed to achieve.

"These are bold proposals, and we hope the government will be equally bold in its response to them."

Downing Street said the government would publish its own review of the honours system soon.

"We will study the report and respond in due course as we always do," the official spokesman said.