Former England captain and Brexiteer Sir Ian Botham is set to be made a Lord by the British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on the first anniversary of his arrival at Downing Street this month.
Mr. Johnson is reportedly planning to celebrate his first anniversary as the UK Prime Minister by rewarding Brexiteers with a batch of new peers at Downing Street later this month.
According to The Times, the legendary all-rounder Botham who is widely considered as England's greatest cricketer with 5,200 Test runs and 383 wickets is among 30 new peers – who backed Johnson’s Brexit deal, to be announced this month.
Botham, who is currently known as "Sir Ian" after he was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 2007 for services to charity, raising £10m for leukemia, would be made a Lord as “reward for Brexit loyalty”.
The legendary cricketer publicly backed the Brexit campaign – which is referring UK leaving the European Union (EU) as well as appeared alongside PM Johnson before the 2016 referendum that saw Britons vote to leave the European Union.
Read Also: ENG v WI 2020: Kevin Pietersen calls England's handling of Joe Denly 'atrocious'
Before the referendum, Sir Ian had said: “The people coming into our country, they don't seem to have come over with a job, any qualifications, they just turn up. I think it will get cluttered. I want my grandchildren to enjoy this country as much as I have, and that must mean freedom to move around as they want.”
However, there is no immediate comment from Downing Street, but being made a peer would mean Botham will become a member of the unelected House of Lords, one of the two chambers of Britain's parliament alongside the democratically elected House of Commons.
(With AFP Inputs)
