THERE is speculation among bookmakers that four times world racing driver champion Lewis Hamilton will have a knighthood bestowed on him in the New Year’s Honours.

This would be a travesty, because this man is a tax-avoider.

He has amassed over £130m in his personal fortune yet he shelters it from the British taxman.

If he had stayed in Britain he would have paid almost £50m in tax – how many schools or hospital wings could you build with that amount of money, and it would still have left him £80m to indulge his love of the playboy lifestyle, yachts, fast cars, plus his private jet which he didn’t pay VAT on, thanks to the loophole involving the Isle of Man.

David Beckham has been a fantastic ambassador for British sport, especially in his help to get the 2012 Olympics, yet he has been denied a knighthood, apparently partly due to his involvement in a tax avoidance scheme. Why the double standards?

I can imagine Hamilton’s parents taking advantage of our welfare state to assist in raising their family, and now when Hamilton has the opportunity to show his gratitude, he put two fingers up to the British tax-paying public and left the country to avoid paying tax.

He wants all the benefits of being British, but not the responsibilities of paying tax.

He should not get a knighthood.

Dave Kennington, Thornaby