Certainly, he deserves it then and now. But that is not the issue. He could have replied in the affirmative when offered in the 1990s, but honours were never in his mind.

Be that as it may, it was in PANORAMA where the seed of his deserving a knightood was subsequently planted when it was argued that the knighthood should be forthcoming. That was in 2013, and it has taken five years for the plant to blossom, but as a keen gardener, like me, he will know that some times it is the best plants that take longer to mature.

So, there was the late David Eade writing one of his excellent columns in PANORAMA back in 2013, propagating a series of arguments to shake the British Establishment.

It seems reasonable to me that if you have been elected as chief minister of Gibraltar on four consecutive occasions then at the end of the day you get a knighthood. So I have no problem with Peter Richard Caruana being given a K, wrote Eade.

He put forward some valid points and then asked: So what if Joe Bossano sees out his life with his political boots firmly on? When is the British establishment going to honour him? When he's in his fosse?

Added Eade: Make no mistake the unpalatable truth is that Joe Bossano has never been given any honour by the British establishment because they have snubbed him. Yet by snubbing him they snub Gibraltar and all Gibraltarians too not just those who support him politically. The Queen's Honours List is to honour those of her subjects who have given distinguished service not those who the British establishment feels are one of them.

If anybody has served Gibraltar with distinction then it is Joe Bossano. Hence if Gibraltar is no longer deemed to be a subservient colony Joe Bossano must be honoured and soon. The British establishment not only owe it to him they owe it to you too, he wrote.

ARISE SIR JOE

We then published a letter to the Editor from James Levy: Having worked with Joe Bossano initially for 8 years when he was Chief Minister and seeing the enormous amount of progress that he made for Gibraltar, I wholeheartedly agree with David Eade's thesis.

Joe Bossano has been much maligned by his political enemies. One day a fair history will be written and Gibraltar will see how much good he did for our wonderful country.

I have had the honour and privilege to work with Sir Joshua Hassan who I consider the father of the Gibraltarians, and Joe Bossano who has followed him close behind. I agree "Arise Sir Joe" the sooner the better!

Then along came another letter, this time from George Mascarenhas agreeing with both David Eade's piece and James Levy's letter on the subject of a knighthood for Joe Bossano, saying that Bossano certainly deserved it for his dedication and service to the people of Gibraltar for over 40 years.

He added: Knowing Joe well honours are not high on his agenda but a knighthood for him would be symbolic for all the people of Gibraltar.

He hoped that it would indeed happen in the near future.

Well, it has finally happened five years later!

AS CLEAR AS KNIGHT and day

But what is as clear as day is that another great disservice about a knighthood has also been perpetrated against Adolfo Canepa, who has spent a lifetime in politics and is currently Speaker of the Gibraltar Parliament.

Like Bossano, he was elected to the House of Assembly in 1972. For the next 16 years Canepa held ministerial appointments in successive Gibraltar governments under Sir Joshua Hassan, including being Deputy Chief Minister.

When he became Chief Minister I wrote in PANORAMA: "HE HAS ALL THE EXPERIENCE, THE TRAINING AND THE KNOWLEDGE OF HOW GOVERNMENTS WORK AND DO NOT WORK."

When he retired from active politics in 1991, he held the post of Leader of the Opposition. In fact, he is the only Gibraltar politician to have been Chief Minister, Leader of the Opposition, Speaker and Mayor.

What better credentials for a knighthood?

10-01-17 PANORAMAdailyGIBRALTAR