THE WORD is that the lottery bosses at Camelot are to snub Heritage Secretary Chris Smith's ultimatum that they must pay their £2.3million "fat cat" salary rises and bonuses to charity, or else.

It is the "or else" on which this issue hangs.

For despite his playing pop with them yesterday and rejecting their offer to match the pay rises with a donation to charity from Camelot profits, rather than making a personal sacrifice, there is not a lot Mr Smith can do to make his threat stick.

Not yet, at least.

But already Mr Smith and the Labour government has chalked up a victory of sorts over this.

They have let the Camelot bosses know in no uncertain terms what the people think about boardroom greed - especially when it is funded at public expense. Business-wise Camelot may have shot themselves in the foot with these pay increases of up to 90 per cent.

The National Lottery's appeal has already begun to wane.

And, coupled with much public disenchantment over the nature of many of the good causes it has helped - though Camelot is not to blame for those choices - the notion of their ticket money being turned into mega-salaries for the bosses may deter even more people from playing.

But, much more than this, Mr Smith's conveying of the public's anger over the pay rises directly to Camelot's chiefs and backing it even with blank threats of sanction puts down a marker - one that strongly suggests that executive excess will be fought by this government.

That sends a warning message to all boardrooms - particularly those of the businesses delivering public services.

And what a contrast this is to the last government's hands-off attitude on fat cat greed and its disregard of ordinary people's concern.

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