Honours to reward 'unsung heroes'

Reforms to the honours system will make it easier to reward volunteers and "unsung heroes", Gordon Brown has said.

The Prime Minister, who has written a book,  Britain's Everyday Heroes: The Making of the Good Society, said he wanted to recognise "the great work that people do" in the community.

He said he wants the share of  honours for community work to be "substantially higher" than its current 40%.

Conservative Party said Mr Brown's predecessor Tony Blair had said in 1999 he would reform the honours.

Mr Brown has pledged to reform the honours system to make it easier to recognise contributions towards communities and those who had helped deal with recent floods and attempted car bombings in London and Glasgow Airport.

He added: "What we have witnessed a week or two ago throughout  Yorkshire and  Humberside and now in  Gloucester and the surrounding areas are neighbours helping neighbours, young helping old, those with transport helping those who are stranded and all people doing so selflessly.

"So it's an immense privilege to be here to have the chance to recognise publicly the contribution of Britain's everyday heroes."

But the Conservatives said the scheme was "very similar" to one announced by Mr Blair in 1999 - later dubbed the "People's Peers".

Mr Blair had said a new Appointments Commission would ensure a House of Lords that was more representative of British society.

But the first list of 15 non-political crossbenchers proved controversial as they included seven people who already had knighthoods, three professors and two people with OBEs.

Mr Brown said he had informed all Whitehall departments and honours committees that, in future, more awards should go to "the unsung heroes of our villages, towns and cities".

Read the full speech