John Major on 'Private passions'

[Flosshilde]

Presumably he won't be talking about Edwina Currie?

His opening words were that he set up the National Lottery because things that mattered to people - the arts, sport, etc "were never going to get much support from the taxpayer". Well, no, actually - it was his Government that wasn't going to give them much support.

[Resurrection Man]

....Well, no, actually - it was his Government that wasn't going to give them much support.

Do you have any facts or figures to support this statement? A compare and contrast between Conservative spending vs Labour spending, for example?

[amateur51]

Do you have any facts or figures to support this statement? A compare and contrast between Conservative spending vs Labour spending, for example?

Why the compare & contrast? - what Flossie implies is pretty obviously true. It was one of the pre-occupations of the bodies set up to spend the Lottery money, how to avoid substitituing Lottery funds for Government funds. I know, I was there

[Flosshilde]

Do you have any facts or figures to support this statement? A compare and contrast between Conservative spending vs Labour spending, for example?

It's not the 'taxpayer' who determines a government's spending priorities & whether money should go to the arts or arms, but the government - be it Conservative, Labour, Liberal or a combination of all the parties. Major was being a touch disingenuous in suggesting that it wasn't his government that decided where the money should be spent.

[aka Calum Da Jazbo]

they all do it, some more than others, at least this particular rogue did something about it ...bit like Harold Wilson and the Open University ....

don't mention the ERM .....

[jean]

It's not the 'taxpayer' who determines a government's spending priorities...

Theoretically they do, because the parties tell them what they propose, and then they vote for the policies they like best.

They failed to notice, however, that the lottery was likely to prove to be a tax on the poor, although a voluntary one.

[Bax-of-Delights]

To be honest John Major always seemed, to me, a fairly decent chap - very much the "ordinary" Joe that some political commentators apprently yearn for to replace the "toffs". Of course it was the same commentators who cruelly maligned him for his "greyness". Who'd ever want to be a politician eh?

[Ferretfancy]

I was cajoled into listening, and as before he seemed to be a decent man who made lots of mistakes in his career. The Die Fledermaus Overture got things off to an enjoyable start, but after that it was downhill all the way. Poor memory can be kind sometimes, but I do recall that we got Lara's Theme, The Onedin Line, Gounod's Ave Maria in a dreadful arrangement sung by June Bronhill, some Offenbach warbled by Joanie and Winifred Atwell. Mistakes continuing, I'm afraid !

[Nick Armstrong]

I was cajoled into listening, and as before he seemed to be a decent man who made lots of mistakes in his career. The Die Fledermaus Overture got things off to an enjoyable start, but after that it was downhill all the way. Poor memory can be kind sometimes, but I do recall that we got Lara's Theme, The Onedin Line, Gounod's Ave Maria in a dreadful arrangement sung by June Bronhill, some Offenbach warbled by Joanie and Winifred Atwell. Mistakes continuing, I'm afraid !

I was going to catch up with this... is this today's programme you're talking about? If it is, I'll go and fetch my bargepole...

[Mary Chambers]

And a bit of the Younng Person's Guide, the theme of which was apparently used as a Tory signature tune in 1990-something, re-orchestrated by Andrew Lloyd Webber. Just as well BB was dead by then, as he was not a Conservative, apart from other considerations.

[Resurrection Man]

..... Major was being a touch disingenuous in suggesting that it wasn't his government that decided where the money should be spent.

In your original post you wrote that John Major said that ...

the arts, sport, etc "were never going to get much support from the taxpayer"

That's pretty unequivocal, surely. Where is he being 'disingenuous'?

Anyway, that's all by the by. But it would be pleasant to read a post that didn't always have a political 'let's bash' sting-in-the-tale. It does get a tad boring.

[french frank]

Rather more details on Classic Arts than on the R3 website.

"He...has always retained a strong affection for ... a wide variety of classical music, a passion he shares with his wife Norma."

[mangerton]

And a bit of the Younng Person's Guide, the theme of which was apparently used as a Tory signature tune in 1990-something, re-orchestrated by Andrew Lloyd Webber. Just as well BB was dead by then, as he was not a Conservative, apart from other considerations.

The nerve of some people! (Principally ALW, in this context. What a brass neckit so and so!)

flossie, it occurs to me that Major could well have referred to Edwina, as it was a Private Passion at the time, only becoming public years after the event.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

... it would be pleasant to read a post that didn't always have a political 'let's bash' sting-in-the-tale. It does get a tad boring.

Perhaps (though were'd the fun be in that?) - but given the guest on this edition it would be unlikely to avoid such a scorpionesque subtext.

[salymap]

Well, Norma Major did write the authorized biography of Joan Sutherland, didn't she ?