Well Done Andy

I see David Cameron has just on the Andy Murray bandwagon and declared that he deservers a knighthood. This has set off a huge debate in the media. There is a big no he shouldn't get it from many. However, how many of them is just a knee-jerk reaction to Cameron. If he hadn't said anything about it but yet in the next honours list Andy did get a knighthood would we have the same debate as now? I don't think so.

To me the whole debate says far more about Cameron than it does Murray. I can't recall any Prime Minister pre-guessing a Queens Honours List in such a way. Was this done for purely political purposes? I hope not but I rather suspect it was.

I do like the idea that it has bought out the debate as to who deserves and who doesn't deserve recognition the honours list. Maybe ordinary people should have more of a say. Despite the increase in 'ordinary' people getting their name on the honours list, the list is very top heavy. One of my friends mum did make the list one year for recognition of the thirty years she'd helped out at the local school. But there was many politicians, heads of big business etc who were on the list as well.

Of course we can't go to far on a people's vote. I hate to see the likes of Katie Price, Peter Andre and the other so called 'celeb' role models we have today reeive awards. To me Andy Murray should get all the praise he gets. Some have said that all he's done is win a tennis match. Even if that is all his did, to me he's still a better role model that many of the celebs we have today.

But to me Andy Murray is more than that. Something he, understandably, doesn't wish to talk about, are the events of 13 March 1996. The day Andy and his school friend had to hide under the headmasters desk whilst Thomas Hamilton, the scout master that Andy knew and his mum had given lifts to, burst into the school and shot dead 16 children and 1 adult before turning the gun on himself. This must have had a huge physiological affect on the young Andy. Many years ago, I pass through Dunblane and decided to pop in to the cemetery. It was such a sad sight to see a row of tiny graves all with the same date of death on them. Very moving. They say that Andy never smiles, to be honest if I went through something like the events that day I don't think I'd ever smile again.

So for putting something like that behind you and going on to achieve all that Andy has achieved I think that he deserves all the plaudits he gets. But Cameron please, don't make this political.