Letter: Abolish the lottery

Abolish the lottery

"We told you so" is always an irritating comment, but it remains the fact that, three years ago, many in the churches warned that the National Lottery was an inherently sleazy licence to print money. A corruption scandal ended the previous national lottery 170 years ago, after a run of about a century. It now appears its successor was tainted from the very beginning ("Call for investigation into Camelot's lottery licence", 5 February).

Given the lamentable track record, surely the time has come not to reform this charity-robbing tax on the poor, but to abolish it?

The Rev PETER HATTON

Droitwich, Worcestershire