UUP man hits out at lottery's 'unfair tax'

The British National Lottery is a bad tax which hits lower income families, an Assembly member insisted today.

Just days after Belfast woman Iris Jeffrey scooped the UK’s highest ever lottery win – £20m (€29.9m) – Ulster Unionist MLA Esmond Birnie said the draw was a sly form of taxation.

Arguing the British government should really fund projects from normal public expenditure, the South Belfast MLA said: “True, the lottery appears to have generated innocent fun for many.

“Most UK adults seem to have played at some time and billions of pounds have been generated for so-called ‘good causes’.

“But therein lies the rub. If the causes really are so good – and in some cases that has been disputed – then they should be funded out of normal public expenditure.

“The lottery has been a form of tax on the sly and a very bad tax at that. The administration cost of monies collected through the lottery is horrendously high.

“It is an inefficient tax. It is also a bad tax in that even Camelot’s own figures show lower-income families spend a higher proportion of their income on tickets than higher income ones.”

Iris Jeffrey, who is undergoing treatment for cancer, came forward last week after Camelot appealed for the winner of its £20.1m (€30m) jackpot to claim their prize.

Bus driver Peter Lavery had previously been the biggest lottery winner from Northern Ireland.

He captured more than £10m (€14.9m) in 1996.

The UK's lottery also hit the headlines this week following the £7m (€10.5m) won by convicted sex offender Iorworth Hoare.

There have been calls for his winnings to be given to his victims.

Mr Birnie queried today whether the state should be encouraging people to gamble, with its own monopoly lottery.

The Ulster Unionist MLA noted cases of addiction had multiplied.

He lamented: “Sadly, both the Labour and Conservative Parties seem to regard the lottery as a fixture.

“No national party is calling for its abolition and even some of the churches seem happy enough to apply for its proceeds.

“The cynic would say it is here to stay but then 200 years ago there was a similar political consensus that Britain would never get rid of slavery.”