SINCE the inception of the National Lottery, Camelot has been issued with a licence to print money. As this was not enough, in their greed they also introduced another money-spinner, Thunderball.

Now that Richard Branson has been offered the chance of running the Lottery for the next seven years, Camelot are crying foul. They are playing the "sympathy card" regarding the possible job losses by their operatives (with whom I sympathise).

However, these operatives knew that there was a chance that a new operator could take over after Camelot's term expired. Or did they expect jobs for life?

Under Richard Branson, I believe that at last the running of the Lottery will be as it should be, with all the proceeds going to charity and other good causes and not lining the pockets of Camelot's investors.

It is a great pity that at this time, a new set of Lottery Commissioners is not also being appointed. If this were so, tens of millions of pounds of good money would not be squandered on ridiculous and/or outlandish schemes, for example the Millennium Dome.

A. P. TOBIAS