Pistachio's mother and my brother both have MBE's well deserved both Ishould thn,. if you like that sought of thing.We on the other hand are scraping together an obscene amount of money to buy off our local MP-we have about twenty quid so far. Gongs are pretty much like the Church of England- if your a member and its important to you fine and dandy -if you aren't it shouldnt matter to you or anyone else- although I can get my head around many of those who give themselves selflessly for the service of their country -but Rod Stewart ? please! however if he's happy with it then great.