All sports stars that are UK tax payers get gongs.
Its those that are tax exiles that do not get the recognition for some reason.
Bollocks. Dario Franchitti got an MBE for services to motor sport. He spent his entire international career racing overseas and has lived permanently in the USA since 1997.
As for a tax exile, there’s no such thing. Like all British citizens, Hamilton is free to live wherever he chooses. Some people leave the UK for work opportunities. Others because they can’t stand the weather. Some celebrities because they get privacy outside the UK and can live a more normal life. Some leave for love, others for the “cuisine and scenery”. Some of those apply to me and, as a result I pay less tax in the UK.
Unlike some countries (eg the USA), the UK do not tax their citizens on earnings made and kept overseas. They are only subject to UK tax when they are brought in to the UK. Even then, overseas earnings are not taxed in the UK if their is a dual taxation agreement in place and tax is paid at source.
Most of Hamilton’s wealth is made outside the UK and is never brought there. It’s his free choice where he lives, keeps his wealth and spends it. Hamilton does pay tax on earnings he makes in the UK; enough tax to make him one of the top 5000 individual tax contributors.
Lewis Hamilton is a great ambassador for global, multi-cultural Britain. He’s overtly proud of his heritage and nationality. We chuck Knighthoods at civil servants who have done their job, service officers who reach very senior rank and luvvies who have been in a few films. Very few of them have achieved anything like what Lewis Hamilton has done. And none of the recent sporting knights have come near. Anywhere near.