For the same argument could well be applied to almost any area of government which has been privatised, “outsourced” or given agency status. It would apply also to public-private partnerships, the Government’s favoured means of financing big capital projects, but can equally be seen as mortgages to be expensively paid off by the next generation of taxpayers.The only sliver of argument that separates the lottery from other programmes, such as hospitals or railways, is the primacy of profit. The purpose of the lottery is to make money that can be more worthily spent. Elsewhere, the prime argument for deregulation has to do with delivering efficiency and value for money, but the dividing line is thin. And if the debate about nationalising the lottery prompts the Government to take a broader look at the comparative merits of state vs private ownership, that would be all to the good. What is paramount is not the precise form of ownership or method of management, but whether the form chosen gives value for money, and works..

It was late in life that the mother of Constantine the Great discovered the new faith of Christianity, in Evelyn Waugh’s 1950 eponymous novel Helena. She set off to the Holy Land to anchor her new belief in the physical facts of history and geography – and find the answer to a child’s question: When? Where? How do you know?

It was late in life that the mother of Constantine the Great discovered the new faith of Christianity, in Evelyn Waugh’s 1950 eponymous novel Helena. Sent Off: Wilkshire.Man of the match: Campbell.Attendance: 38,003.. Jean Tigana has had his hands on a few cups in his time.

Substitutes not used: Maccarone, Crossley (gk).Referee: S Dunn (Bristol) 5.Booked: Arsenal: Cole Middlesbrough: Greening, Wilkshire, Quedrue. Substitutes not used: Parlour, Jeffers, Luzhny, Shaaban (gk), Kanu.Middlesbrough (4-4-2): Schwarzer 8; Parnaby 5, Ehiogu 5, Southgate 5, Queudrue 4; Geremi 4, Boateng 6 (Job 5, 25), Wilkshire 4, Greening 4; Boksic 3 (Windass 4, 70), Nemeth 4 (Vidmar, 78). Arsenal have won four championships in the last two decades yet, the two seasons they led the table on Christmas morning, in 1986 and 1989, they finished fourth. They were down to 10 men by then, Wilkshire having been harshly dismissed for mis-reading Pires’s sleight-of-foot.Then, with the early leavers on the way to the tube, Van Bronckhorst, Ashley Cole and Henry combined for Pires to steer in a second.So Arsenal are top at Christmas.

The Dutchman took the kick himself and Campbell evaded Gareth Southgate to head powerfully in.With Sylvain Wiltord rediscovering his touch and Pires, given a floating role, finding space as Boro opened up, Arsenal should have swamped the visitors in the second period. He was on firmer ground when he said Middlesbrough were making progress and they can be expected to continue doing so. But then, McClaren also claimed: “In the second half we went three-up and took the game to them. They had a few breakaways but we were bold and we caused them problems.”McClaren is not the only one-eyed manager, it goes with the job. This outlay has reaped 21 goals in 28 months, including just one in the last nine.