Letter: Good and bad ways of spending the National Lottery proceeds

Sir: I felt very proud when I received tickets to attend the Heads of State Ceremony to be held on Sunday in Hyde Park.

I have, however, become very disturbed in the past few days by the controversy over the "Churchill papers" and the financing of the purchase of them for "the country" out of lottery money. I now hear that the Thatcher papers are to be presented free of charge. This makes the situation even more incredible.

I feel that I do not want to be associated in any way with any ceremony at this time, when someone is making a private fortune out of what I consider to be public papers. I have, therefore, returned my tickets to the Prime Minister as a private but perhaps pathetic protest over this affair. I hope that I may find a much pleasanter way of celebrating my wartime and peacetime services to this country, and I suggest that like-minded people do the same.

Yours faithfully,

A. W. PAYNE

Axbridge, Somerset