31 JULY 2004, Page 25

Gongs for mandarins

From The Lord Hanson Sir: I take particular issue with one shabby part of the recent Parliamentary committee recommendation to cancel all honours for all civil servants. To deny acclaim to so many fine people is a disgrace. Like many, I have worked abroad and at home, where I have benefited corporately from the sterling work done everywhere, from top to bottom, by our underpaid, under-appreciated men and women, now under this needless fire. Our Civil Service is much envied throughout the free world, especially in America, where their equivalent is usually politically appointed and is often changed with each new administration. Let us raise a glass to our very special civil servants and long may they be Sirred and Darned.

Lord Hanson House of Lords. London SW I