This is what Patrick Collins wrote about in the Sunday Mail about Lester Piggott two weeks ago. I print this after SBC praised Mr Cameron for being a racing fan and awarding an honour of Knighthood to the now know Sir Henry Cecil... The first peice was written two sundays ago only to be followed up the next week by the other article... Lester Piggott was 76 years old on Saturday. A rider of incomparable distinction, he is the winner of 30 English classics, including nine Derbies, and was champion jockey on 11 occasions. His peers revere him to such a degree that the awards which the jockeys bestow at the end of the season are officially termed âLestersâ. Revered: Lester Piggott And yet, behind all this acclaim, there lurks a sadness. In 1987, Piggott was sentenced to three yearsâ imprisonment for tax offences. He served 366 days but in 1988 he was stripped of the OBE which he had been awarded 13 years earlier. Those who are closest to him testify that the day he parcelled up the medal and ribbon and sent it back to the Palace was the saddest of his life. Now this is not a vengeful nation. We allow âSirâ Fred Goodwin, who helped bring RBS to their knees, to retain both his title and his gargantuan pension, despite his assiduous attempts to wreck our banking industry. Worse, we watch with an indulgent beam while the preposterous âLordâ Jeffrey Archer, sent down for four years for perjury, resumes his seat in the Upper House and shamelessly passes laws for the rest of us to obey. Yet Piggott is different. Lester, it seems, must permanently be denied the bauble which he prized so dearly and mourns so bitterly. It is high time that decent justice found its voice. ---------------------------------------------------------- A week ago in this space, I noted that Lester Piggott was celebrating his 76th birthday. I suggested that the occasion should be marked by the restoration of his OBE, which was taken from him more than 20 years ago, following his conviction for tax offences. A remarkable number of people sent in emails and letters. Almost unanimously, they strongly disagreed with the view that Lester should have his OBE restored. Instead, they thought he ought to be knighted. And they have a point. It would be interesting to see how far this 'campaign' could get to... After all the racing community got AP his BBC Sportsman of the Year Award...
No justice whatsoever. Giving Lester a knighthood is the least they can do. If that is refused there ought to be a petition to strip the titles of Archer and Goodwin.
I doubt if there is any racing fan who would dispute Lester Piggott being awarded a Knighthood. And it wouldn’t surprise me if Mr Cameron acted accordingly should a well organised ‘petition’ be made to ‘number 10’.
These things are always political but I guess the argument against Lester is that he defrauded the state. I can see both sides - though that clearly doesn't put Goodwin or Archer anywhere near the top of my Christmas card list....
It is unfortunatley a political thing... Ive never been a big fan of politicians getting involved with sporting issues but sometimes they do make a difference... Never met Lester or even Archer myself, but i know who i would more time for if stuck in a lift...
Why do you think that twat Cameron got so involved in the whole poppy thing last week ? The guy is on the floor, he's about 2 speaches away from complete humiliation so he looks for a quick win and finds it - he cares no more about whether the England team wear a poppy than I care about his inability to grow facial hair !
Does it really matter if he gets a knighthood or not? His racing achievements speak for themselves. Bob Paisley and Brian Clough never got knighted but everyone knows they're great managers. The whole honours system is silly anyway (the fact it's still the Order of the British Empire etc sums it up - what Empire?!).
Agree to that - even my dad has an OBE (I won't tell you what for but we did have a nice day out at the palace - saw Shirley Bassey (Dame) and Barbara Windsor (MBE))
Im not totally sure that Piggott getting his 'honour' back will change anything, and i agree with you kiyon that the 'honours' of the OBE, MBE etc are very old fashioned as they date to the Empire that we once had... Im not in agreement that sportsmen, actors should get such an honour anyway, and i certainly didnt agree with the gongs awarded to the Ashes winning cricketers, or any other sporting acheivemnts. God only knows what would happen if England won a footballing world cup...!!! This is something that Patrick Collins was writing about and i was just putting it out to this forum to see what we think... I sure that some people will be very much for the honours and some against. In my opinion if any people should be awarded a gong of some sort it should be to the people who really do make a difference to peoples lives. Soldiers of war have awards and should be recognised. Doctors who save peoples lives with there skills in medicine should be put up for what they are doing... As for what they should be called then MBE's and OBE's will still be what is given out... Its political spin doctoring at its worst, The Blair Witch foundation used it to their benefit first, and now the Tory Blue boys are doing the same... As ive said politicians should stick to running a country, (though looking how they run this country at the moment is enough for us to say keep out of sporting matters...) and not sticking their noses into things that get them political votes... But politics is a celebrity thing now and shaking hands with a winning sporting captain will seriously boost there ratings...
Thanks Red...saves me posting something similar.. Knighthoods and honours are unfortunately given willy nilly to those who simply have no honour. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1372907/Cecil-gets-five-year-ban-for-drink-driving.html
I agree the Honours system is abit of a joke now, If you were fed with a silver spoon and studied at Eton your guarenteed a knighthood these days. But the real genuine deservers are always often overlooked. What Lestor Piggott as done in his chosen sport of Horse Racing is unrivalled and with the Queen being a big racing fan Im suprised shes not had a second think about the Maestro. Just reminising the 1990 Breeders Cup Mile. 54 year old Lestor, Just served 2 years in the nick and on another Vincent O'Brien horse and delivers one of his textbook 'calm' rides. '' And Royal Academy is thundering down the centre of the track... '' The real Living legend
Lester is not going to get a knighthood as he has already committed his crimes (and done his time). Giving Fred Goodwin and Jeffrey Archer as examples is inconsistent with the scenario - both of them already had their titles before they committed their indiscretions. There may be a good argument for them losing their titles as a result, but giving awards to convicted crooks would have had the Kray twins knighted for services to East London and Sir Ronnie Biggs for services to Brazilian tourism and the railways. We all know that Lester was a great in the saddle, but how many knighthoods have ever been given to greats of the saddle?
