'Loose Talk'
By Benjamin Benedict

Olympic Gamble

Only in a dream world could the UK come fourth in the Olympic medal table, and currently be second in the Paralympics. From previous form this suggests a Nation that has suddenly committed itself to a more healthy, active way of life - cycling to work, going to the gym, taking a 10 K run on the weekend, families going to Pilates classes together, and crowding out the swimming pools – and you would be so wrong!

It is true that there are more cyclists on the road and the London Marathon is overloaded by enthusiastic charity fund raisers, as for the rest, the British Nation are still the couch potato, junk food, candy bar addicts that have overfilled their Union Jack shorts since the end of the Second World War, as the beleaguered National Health Service will confirm.

So, how come this spectacular turnaround in the UK’s sporting results? The answer lies in another unhealthy National penchant, that of gambling, and in particular that of The National Lottery.

The National Lottery has made enormous funds available for the restoration of buildings of historical significance, and more relevant to this article has provided grants for athletes and athletic facilities, undreamt of fifteen years ago. It was John Major’s Conservative Government that instigated the Lottery and apart from the ensuing New Labour Government’s attempts to use the money for projects that would normally be covered by conventional taxes, the Lottery has gone from strength to strength, to the point that you should also place a bet on the person in front of you at the newsagents buying at least one Lottery ticket, if not half a dozen.

Lottery fever is more prevalent than the common cold and plays no favourites. It infects Grannies who can’t find the money to turn on the central heating to entire offices who form profit (when there is any) sharing co-operatives. It is useless telling them that they would be better off buying Premium Bonds, which will never lose them their initial investment and which statistically give you a better chance to win. It is the dream of the BIG WIN that is the spur; enough money that your miserable life will be changed forever so you can do all those hedonistically indulgent things that you have always dreamt of.

I can’t deny that there are those who have no such fantasies and play the lottery because it gives them more of a reason to watch the results on National TV and because it is all in a good cause, but my suspicion is that they are in a tiny minority and that it is the big time dreamers who are the spur to the Lottery’s success.

What the Country gets for its money is a proportionately miniscule number of athletes, fine tuned over many years to a condition way beyond the bounds of health, applauded by a Nation of sedentary onlookers, suffering from a range of potentially self-curable complaints affecting the joints, heart, kidney and lungs to name a few.

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