ST HELENS NORTH MP David Baines and House of Commons speaker Lindsay Hoyle have both called for the honours system to give greater recognition to people associated with Rugby League, given that no player has ever received the top honour of a knighthood for services to the sport.
The MP, who is the chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Rugby League Group, made the call during a House of Commons debate last week, in which the Speaker, a former president of the RFL, also backed the campaign and admitted he has raised the matter with the prime minister personally.
“It is time to ensure that our great game and some of the outstanding individuals who represent it receive the recognition that they deserve,” said Baines.
Leader of the House Lucy Powell shared her “surprise” and said that the government “want to recognise the valuable contribution that Rugby League plays in our communities and to our country.”
The Speaker then intervened in the debate and said that he has personally asked the prime minister to overturn the “major injustice and the stigma against Rugby League where not one person has ever been knighted.
“Kevin Sinfield has raised millions for motor neurone disease and on behalf of what he’s done, I would have thought now is the time and we should wait no longer.”