National Lottery Bill

Does the Minister admit, following what he has just said, that the Government’s proposals breach the principle of additionality? He was generous in paying tribute to the last Conservative Government who set up the lottery on the basis of five good causes, one of which—the millennium fund—we can dispense with. The four other good causes—sport, arts, heritage and charity—were then to receive 100 per cent. of the cash. However, the Bill that the Minister now proposes offers 50 per cent. of the money to funding causes, including education, health and the environment, that have traditionally been areas of Government activity paid for by the taxpayer. The Minister may be right in saying that the public support those causes, but the Bill surely breaches the principle of additionality, despite the Minister’s claims that it does not.