This is utter rubbish. John Major and his government has nothing to with the British Olympic successes of today.
It was his administration and Thatcher's before him who did nothing to improve British Olympic sport. It got so bad that in 1996 (the penultimate year of John Major's premiership) that GB only won a single gold medal at the Atlanta Olympics.
The original intention of the National Lottery in 1994 was not to support sporting projects. It was to fund the arts and community projects. it was only under Tony Blair and Labour that the funding by the lottery changed to include sports as well.
It seems there are a couple of revisionists here are seeking to give John Major credit for something that he had no part in. :rolleyes:
Well said.
And if the Tories had continued in power throught the late 1990s/2000s then we would still be p*ss poor in the Olympics. No funding and not many medals and no London Olympics.....
If it wasn't for John Major's government privatising trains, perhaps I would have been able to afford the fare to get to London to see the Games
Labour had 13 years to undo all of this and yet hardly changed anything the Tories did in the 80's.
Face it both parties have buggered up this country in terms of sport putting it mildly. It's pointless trying to score policital points from it. Let's just hope the success of these games are not in vain!
I applaud the sentiment of Major's intentions though I'm not sure that at the time he really believed it was to benefit sport or British athletes at the Olympics in London.
I also would query whether the Lottery should be used as a substitute for government funding from the taxpayer in this regard particularly when as it now seems quite apparent that there's been quite a lot of tax avoidance going on.
That's because Thatch & Co tied the deals so tightly it would cost an absolute fortune to undo.
I don't think that is a fair excuse, especially as the last government had the boom years. They wasted billions along the way, 13 years of wasted opportunity. Such a shame
Labour had 13 years to undo all of this and yet hardly changed anything the Tories did in the 80's.
Face it both parties have buggered up this country in terms of sport putting it mildly. It's pointless trying to score policital points from it. Let's just hope the success of these games are not in vain!
Exactly. It has been shameful the way that Labour set about trying to get political capital out the games at mid-point. The media assault in the middle weekend & the lackies on social media spouting out the messages they had been given by Labour central office.
Fact is both parties have done good things along the way for these games & they have done things not so good. I hope Seb Coe being appointed takes this whole legacy issue away from the main political (pathetic) points scoring. If anything is going to turn the good vibe out of these games sour it is this.
Seb is a Tory but he is also the guy who has with many other (non-politicians) masterminded these excellent games. He hasn't played politics & he needs to keep down that very same track.
Comments
Well said.
And if the Tories had continued in power throught the late 1990s/2000s then we would still be p*ss poor in the Olympics. No funding and not many medals and no London Olympics.....
Labour had 13 years to undo all of this and yet hardly changed anything the Tories did in the 80's.
Face it both parties have buggered up this country in terms of sport putting it mildly. It's pointless trying to score policital points from it. Let's just hope the success of these games are not in vain!
I also would query whether the Lottery should be used as a substitute for government funding from the taxpayer in this regard particularly when as it now seems quite apparent that there's been quite a lot of tax avoidance going on.
That's because Thatch & Co tied the deals so tightly it would cost an absolute fortune to undo.
I don't think that is a fair excuse, especially as the last government had the boom years. They wasted billions along the way, 13 years of wasted opportunity. Such a shame
Exactly. It has been shameful the way that Labour set about trying to get political capital out the games at mid-point. The media assault in the middle weekend & the lackies on social media spouting out the messages they had been given by Labour central office.
Fact is both parties have done good things along the way for these games & they have done things not so good. I hope Seb Coe being appointed takes this whole legacy issue away from the main political (pathetic) points scoring. If anything is going to turn the good vibe out of these games sour it is this.
Seb is a Tory but he is also the guy who has with many other (non-politicians) masterminded these excellent games. He hasn't played politics & he needs to keep down that very same track.