The government was controversially given the go-ahead to raid funds of the National Lottery to help pay for the 2012 London Olympics.
MPs in parliament voted by 357 to nine for ministers to divert around £1.1billion of Lottery funding earmarked for good causes to help plug a huge funding black hole. Culture Secretary James Purnell had promised during a debate on the Olympics that no further raids on Lottery funding would be necessary. He also promised to introduce tax changes that could help raise around £400million for good causes.
Are there any plans by parliament to investigate the fact that the overall budget for the 2012 Olympics has now ballooned to around £9.3billion, roughly four times the original estimate? Why should lottery funding be raided to finance the games, which mean that many grassroots sports and community groups facing the axe? Why are government ministers openly getting away with wasting taxpayers’ money in this way? Why on earth did we bid in the first place when now all this could go absolutely pearshaped?