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Sir John Major deserves credit for the UK's Olympic performances

I know that for some people, the years when John Major was Prime Minister are kind of forgotten between the Thatcher & Blair premierships. If he is remembered, it tends to be for the early years such as the 1991 Gulf War, the disagreement in his party over the 1992 Maastricht Treaty & recession caused by the Black Wednesday ERM crash in the same year.

However, in 1993, Sir John's government created the National Lottery Act. Denounced by detractors, including Labour at the time, as a stealth tax, it's fair to say that without the funding the Lottery has provided for the UK's athletes, our sterling performances over the past 3/4 Summer Olympic Games wouldn't have happened.
From what I gather from the Lotto website, UK Sport gets 20% of National Lottery project money which in the 2015/16 financial year was from at pot of £1,901 million.

If you want to read further then see the link below:

https://www.national-lottery.co.uk/life-changing/where-the-money-goes

This money effectively means British sports men & women have annual funding to ensure they maximise their potential. See this link if you want to read more:

http://www.uksport.gov.uk/our-work/investing-in-sport/how-uk-sport-funding-works

The fact is that, until Beijing 2008, the UK hadn't finished in the top 5 since the 1920s. In Atlanta 1996 we were 36th so unbelievable progress has been made in the last 20 years. It's fair to say that, if you look back at our Summer Olympic results during the latter half in the 20 Century, the UK typically lingered around 10th-13th place. If you look at the size/wealth of the UK in comparison to other nations, even optimistically you could barely say the British teams were punching their weight.
Now Team GB has rose far above where we were even 12 years ago & when you compare us to the two countries that consistently better us overall, losing to the USA & China isn't anything to ashamed of when you consider their pool of talent combined with their wealth.

Of course none of this would be possible without the dozens (if not hundreds) of UK athletes, their support staff/coaches & of course their families. But if you want the biggest single reason why we've done so well at the Summer Olympic Games in the past 8 years then look no further than Sir John Major.

Reply 1

MagicNMedicine

Perhaps we could find funding for the NHS and housing and make the UK lead the world in those areas as well.

Reply 2

Tempest II

Original post by MagicNMedicine

Perhaps we could find funding for the NHS and housing and make the UK lead the world in those areas as well.

Off topic & somewhat irrelevant. If you think about the amount of people the Olympics inspires to get into sport it might even save the NHS money in the long run if they become more active.

Anyways, that money isn't exactly going to help the NHS out an awful lot as it receives 140 billion plus annually as it is. Even an extra billion on wouldn't make much difference.

(edited 7 years ago)

Reply 3

The_Opinion

Genuinely hate him, he will have to single-handily remove all evil from the world until he will get any credit from me. He represents in the Conservative Party what someone like Yvette Cooper represents in the Labour Party, both hold most of the population in utter contempt, and I view them in the same light.

(edited 7 years ago)

Reply 4

remiremi

I still can't believe Major pushed for the government to give Robert Mugabe a knighthood

That tells you as much for his judge of Character

Reply 5

Tempest II

Original post by remiremi

I still can't believe Major pushed for the government to give Robert Mugabe a knighthood

That tells you as much for his judge of Character

Back in the early 1990s, he was seen as the Zimbabwean Nelson Mandela. In fact, at that point, apparently Mandela and Mugabe were actually friends. I suppose the UK hoped he'd turn his back on violence like Mandela did. Instead he remained a thug.

Reply 6

999tigger

The people who deserve credit are thsoe who play the national lottery. its their money. Good to see its paid off though and that significant funding has helped raise the GBs results.

Reply 7

username1799249

Original post by MagicNMedicine

Perhaps we could find funding for the NHS and housing and make the UK lead the world in those areas as well.

Nah - it would be a genuinely sad state of affairs if the lottery were used to fund the NHS and other general taxation things. I think it is quite nice that we have a rainy day fund in the lottery to fund nice things like Olympic performers and the arts. We forget in our gloom and doom that it is nice to have fun at the tax payers expense too. I believe it is what is called being civilised. You can poor infinite funds into the NHS and it will still require more.

Reply 8

THE EPIC Panda

Well he'll be remembered for this, buggering up trains and shagging Edwina Currie. What a legacy.

Reply 9

THE EPIC Panda

Well he'll be remembered for this, buggering up trains and shagging Edwina Currie. What a legacy.

Reply 10

THE EPIC Panda

Well he'll be remembered for this, buggering up trains and getting off with Edwina Currie for four years. What a legacy.

Reply 11

THE EPIC Panda

Well he'll be remembered for this, buggering up trains and getting off with Edwina Currie for four years. What a legacy.

Reply 12

string56

This article maybe of interest...

'Brutal but effective': why Team GB has won so many Olympic medals"

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2016/aug/15/brutal-but-effective-why-team-gb-is-winning-so-many-olympic-medals

"World asks just how the Brits do it - The media in a number of countries have been asking what lies behind the success rate of British athletes at the Rio Olympics"

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-37108833