Unregistered User
I know this will cause problems with some Forumites but give credit where it is due, John Major set up the Lottery for exactly what has been achieved at the Olympics by British sports contestants [yes-contestants].
Watty
Guest 663- Registered: 20 Mar 2008
- Posts: 1,136
Like everyone I've been keeping abreast of the olympics and yes you could argue the point of who to give the credit to, but at this moment in time the credit should go to all those guys out there now giveing it there all for BRITAIN
Unregistered User
Totally agree
Watty
The lottery has funded a few good things, the Olympics among them - but the fact remains that the Lottery panders to peoples greed, raises false hopes, encourages gambling, and reflects part of the stem of some of the ills of this current era. And yes, I do play!!!
Unregistered User
A matter of choices. I don't play.
Guest 655- Registered: 13 Mar 2008
- Posts: 10,247
Even a Government Minister on the Today programme achnowledged John Major's role. Ultimately it would be for nothing though if it wasnt for the dedication and hard work of the contestants.
DT1- Location: Dover
- Registered: 15 Apr 2008
- Posts: 1,116
With you there Barry, we could find all kinds of attributing factors to our teams success, however it is their hard work that has got them this far.
The National Lottery really does epitomise the term 'stealth tax.' Never played and never will!
Guest 667- Registered: 6 Apr 2008
- Posts: 919
Could not agree more the National Lottery has given British sports men and women the chance to do what they are doing at these Olympics.
I do the lottery as I agree with this sort of funding and I always purchase the "Dream Number" as that money goes direct to the 2012 London Olympics.
So yes good on you John Major and congratulations to all the G.B Team (winners or not) you have put the Great back in Britain.
Guest 645- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 4,463
An extraxt from The Daily Torygraph on Olympic funding
... it coincided with the start of National Lottery funding which led to the biggest transformation in the way sport is organised in Britain for half a century.
Although introduced by former Prime Minister John Major in 1994, it was not until 1997 under a Labour government that restrictions on handing grants to individuals were lifted allowing money to be paid directly to athletes, freeing them up to quit their jobs and train full time.
I thought I would bring everyone back down to earth before Edwina Curries lover was canonised and became a Saint
Marek
I think therefore I am (not a Tory supporter)
howard mcsweeney1- Location: Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 62,352
i thought it seemed too good to be true.
mr major never left a lasting legacy.
Guest 656- Registered: 13 Mar 2008
- Posts: 2,262
I am a big lottery fan, have done it since it began. You never know I might win one of these fine days
and its good to know that some good funding is in progress. Well Done to the G.B Team
Sadly what Mr Major left was an indelible and disturbing image which included him and E Currie.......I have tried to wipe the memory but, on a dark night full of omens and eerie noises the images return to haunt........
Guest 640- Registered: 21 Apr 2007
- Posts: 7,819
lol!! Bern very good...Im tarred with the same unsavoury image on dark nights too. Rave up romps with the salmonella queen are not my favourite nightmare
Guest 655- Registered: 13 Mar 2008
- Posts: 10,247
I must admit the picture that Edwina and Major, with their trousers down, conjure up is one to certainly scare the children.
Guest 645- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 4,463
Marek
I think therefore I am (not a Tory supporter)
Politics, schmolitics...
The only people who deserve credit for Britain's (not 'Team GB' - yuk!) Olympic achievements are the athletes themselves. Fantastic stuff.
howard mcsweeney1- Location: Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 62,352
a lot of our competitors would not have had the same success from their hard work and committment without
funding to allow them to give up their normal jobs.
most of our rivals have always had that advantage over us until now.
Guest 640- Registered: 21 Apr 2007
- Posts: 7,819
lol!! Marek I got a good laugh from that one. Stumped!
Guest 655- Registered: 13 Mar 2008
- Posts: 10,247
Marek. In reply to your post #9.
Rugby player Brian Moore, I have no idea who he is from Adam but apparently he was a major figure in Rugby Union some years ago has commented on Labour's attempts to claim glory for the British team.
The Government claim is that they tripled of funding for elite sport, to £265 million, which is, partly, responsible for the success.
He compares the funding over four-year cycles between games. Up to 2 years ago the extra funding was £2 million above the 'Sydney cycle' of £63 million.
The £200 million additional money was announced after London was awarded the 2012 Games.
This increase of funding to do with backing the London games with cash, rather than any effort to increase the chances of those training and competing this year.
Not all of this extra has been distributed to athletes and the long term preparations by the members of the team started when funding by the Government had increased only a very tiny amount.
So we come back to the real reason for the success of the British team as their own dedication and hard work.
On the same subject Jeremy Hunt has also written on conservativehome.com about Olympic funding. I quote part of what he said here::::
"""""""""""""It must make athletes in Beijing furious that the government is trying to claim credit for their success. The real credit should surely to our superb athletes and no one else.
In fact lottery funding for grassroots sport has been virtually cut in half since 1997. If you add in government spending, there has been a real reduction of £135m per annum going into sport, mainly caused by Labour's lottery raids for ministerial pet projects.
Grassroots sport is not the same as elite sport, but just as vital when it comes to London 2012, where we won the bid on the basis that we would inspire young people through sport.
But even the funding for elite sport has been a shambles. In March 2006 the government promised a £600m package of which £100m would come from the private sector. They have failed to raise this money, and yesterday a government minister said this was because at that time it was "unclear" which rights the government would have to sell off. A few phone calls to the BOA and the IOC could have cleared things up - instead of which they persisted with a promise they are now struggling to fulfil.
The harsher economic climate doesn't make things easier either, but they might have had a chance if they had started two years ago. Since then we are on our third Culture Secretary which I suspect is the real reason why this particular ball was dropped.""""""""""""
So there we are - just about everybody, apart from the Government, recognises the fact that the team's success is eveything to do with their own efforts.
