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Tories promise extra £58m for sports funding
Paul Waugh, Evening Standard26.08.08
Future Olympic hopefuls will get an extra £58million a year in sports funding under Tory plans to reform the National Lottery.
A Conservative government would ban Lottery cash from being diverted to health and education projects.
Since it came to power, Labour has raided £4billion from the Lottery to help fund schemes that critics claim should be paid for by the Treasury.
Shadow culture secretary Jeremy Hunt said a Conservative government would boost the current £205million annual sports funding by nearly £47million.
Another £11.35million would come from a new tax regime for Camelot, the Lottery operator.
But the plans risk claims from Labour that health, education and environmental projects which were added to the list of good causes to benefit from the Lottery in 1998 would suffer.
Mr Hunt said: "The results in Beijing have lifted the curse of dashed expectations that so often hangs over British sport.
"Now we need to build on this by getting more young people involved in sport. Our reforms will secure more funding for grassroots sport."
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Reader views (3)
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Does that mean that the very immature Osborne will make up the spending on the NHS to replace the Lottery money or is it just going to depend on eliminating waste which even Thatcher couldn't manage? He looks and sounds like an ardent sixth former and shows the same degree of competence.
- George Dent, Chiswick
Well done Boris and use the LDA fund correctly unlike others before You
- G D (Ray) Helliar, Southend on Sea Essex
I wonder if they still think it was a good idea to sell-off those playing fields?
- Mark, South-East London
