IT is right that an entrepreneur who risks his capital in a financial venture should make profits if he is successful.

In the case of the National Lottery, the organisers Camelot and their shareholders take no financial risk; it is a monopoly, devoid of competition.

Therefore, Camelot has a licence to print money and, to date, they have raked in millions of pounds.

So Camelot and Co. are very happy to be sharing the 'fun' that, they say, the Lottery provides for the punters.

I was under the impression that the proceeds from the Lottery were intended to go to good causes, charities, and people in need. But what seems to have happened is that the established charities are suffering financially through the existence of the Lottery.

There have been beneficiaries, however.

Among them are Winston Churchill MP, The National Opera and Ballet, the tennis courts at Eton, the Leander Rowing Club (now that ladies have been admitted) and, nearer home, Blackburn Rugby Club.

All good causes, I suppose, to those immediately involved in them, but where do the Lottery-players think their money should go, or don't they care as long as they are 'having fun'?

C A BAKEWELL, St James Road, Blackburn.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.