SIR – I share Chris Holland’s implied disdain (T&A, January 8) at the omission of Gary Verity and the lumping together of time-serving civil servants with those members of the public who have independently benefited the community over and above any obligation.

However, what intrigues me most is the criteria used to decide whether an award should be an MBE, OBE or CBE. If my suspicion regarding the implication of the class system is correct, then by association the whole process is discredited.

John Pashley, Westcliffe Avenue, Baildon