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If you want a knighthood certain careers are clearly recommended - High Court judge, senior civil servant and Tory MP among them. If you only want people to think you have one, running part of London University is clearly the thing.

Following on from press references to "Sir George Bain" when the director of London Business School, holder of the rather less discredited title of "Professor" was asked to head the Institute of Public Policy Research commission on wealth creation, came the elevation of "Sir John Ashworth" by one Conservative MP as the Commons Public Accounts Committee discussed the LSE's role in the competition to buy County Hall.