Comment: Real consensus is needed - and cash - News

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The 2012 funding package is £9.3 billion. The Lottery will contribute just over £2billion, with the Government and the Mayor providing the rest.

A total of £750million will come from dedicated Lottery games such as scratchcards and draws. And £340million will be spent on projects across the country that will form part of the Olympic legacy.

Today MPs are voting on whether to approve the extra £1.1billion to be transferred from the Lottery to help fund the Olympics.

To put on a world-class event, we need a real consensus among political parties: this is one of those times when you have to put aside political differences to do what is right for the country.

There is already a consensus that the Lottery should fund the Olympics, all the main parties are signed up to that principle, in the same way that there was consensus that the Lottery should fund the Millennium celebrations. But we want to go further. Firstly, when Tessa Jowell announced the new funding package in March last year, she agreed with the Mayor that the additional Lottery contribution of £675million would be repaid after 2012 from the Olympic Park land sale profits.

Secondly, we have recently increased direct government funding for these good causes.

Most importantly, I can announce that even more money would go to good causes from the Lottery thanks to changes in Camelot's licence that come in next year.

When compared with the remainder of the current licence, at the current rate of sales, that would mean £600million to £1 billion more over the 10-year period.

Three quarters of Britons are pleased that London is hosting the Olympic Games. Today's vote is an opportunity to underpin that national support with political consensus.