§ 13. Mr. Peter BottomleyTo ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage what estimates he has made of the proceeds from the reintroduction of a national lottery.
§ Mr. MellorIt is too early to say. We intend that it should be a great success, raising hundreds of millions of pounds for good causes.
§ Mr. BottomleyI welcome that answer, which appears to downgrade the idea that there might be £1 billion a year for good causes, £1 billion for prizes and £1 billion for costs. Would not a realistic estimate of the amount available help to diminish some of the wild exaggerations that have been behind some of the calls for support for the national lottery?
§ Mr. MellorIt is because I have no wish to add to that exaggeration that as yet I have no wish to put a figure on the lottery. If it has the right statutory backing—which I hope and believe the House should give it—and if it is properly run, it will have the scope not only to provide a great deal of interest and innocent amusement for a whole range of people but to raise a large amount to benefit causes that would never benefit to such a degree through conventional public expenditure. That will be good. I hope that when we introduce the necessary Bill it will have the support of the whole House.