Re-announcing Olympic Legacy Trust shows Government has run out of ideas

Hugh Robertson joins Shadow Secretary of State for DCMS, Jeremy Hunt, in commenting on the "launch" of a £40 million fund that will use the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games to promote the arts and sport to young people and communities.

Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, Jeremy Hunt said:

“Re-announcing the Legacy Trust for a third time shows how this Government is lacking in ideas. A sporting and cultural legacy is fundamental to a successful London 2012, yet it is clear that the Government has no idea how to secure them. This funding is a drop in the ocean which will fool no one, coming as it does after raids on the National Lottery that have seen the arts lose out on £90m just because of Government’s mishandling of the original budget. A lasting cultural legacy was one of the central promises of the London 2012 bid - it will be a huge tragedy if the Government gets bogged down in seeking a headline and once again fails to deliver."

Shadow Olympics Minister, Hugh Robertson added:

“Labour's repeated raids on the lottery to fund its own pet causes have seen the amount of money going directly into sport fall from £397m in 1998 to £208m today. This morning's re-announcement falls lamentably short of the revolution in sports participation promised when we won the right to host London 2012. A better approach would have been to return the National Lottery to its original four pillars, reform the bureaucracy that stifles sport and free up sport to deliver on the mass participation agenda.”