Mr Major’s Comments at the Launch of the National Lottery – 14 November 1994

Below is the text of Mr Major’s comments at the launch of the National Lottery on 14th November 1994.

PRIME MINISTER:

Daybreak at the Tower has been an inauspicious moment for some. But not this morning. This gathering could not be more helpful and exciting.

It was 1826 when England last had a national lottery. It is two and a half years since I published the White Paper proposing a modern National Lottery – just over a year since this idea became law. Finally, today, the Lottery is here.

The Tower of London is a spectacular backdrop for this occasion. It is a splendid reward for the team at Camelot. It is a truly magnificent effort to have got to the launch of the Lottery in less than six months. 10,000 computer terminals have been installed and 35,000 staff trained already. Nearly everyone is within easy reach of a Lottery retailer, with more to come.

Millions of people will enjoy the chance to play and have the opportunity of winning. There will be hundreds of thousands of prizes, from a few pounds to more than a million.

Anyone could be a winner. But everyone can take pride and pleasure in seeing the proceeds of the Lottery enhance our national life. Camelot estimate that by 2001, nine billion pounds will be raised for good causes – the arts, sport, heritage, charities and projects big and small to mark the millennium.

Life in Britain will be the richer for them. An immense but exciting task lies before those entrusted with distributing this money. So let’s get their Lottery; your Lottery; Britain’s National Lottery, switched on and under way.