CLWYD West MP, David Jones, along with 16 other MPs, has written to Nadine Dorries, the culture secretary, urging her to stop £1billion of British taxpayers’ money being stripped from the National Lottery and sent to a Canadian teachers’ pension fund.

Between 2016 and 2020, the National Lottery fund spent more than £3.5m in Clwyd West.

Good causes in Clwyd West supported by the National Lottery include Wheelchair Basketball North Wales, Cruse Bereavement Care and the Motor Neurone Disease Association.

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Mr Jones and his fellow parliamentarians have urged the culture secretary to intervene and ensure that any compensation paid to the Canadian pension fund will not be paid out of the good causes fund, or taxpayers’ money.

They warn that the move by Camelot represents a “serious threat to thousands of community enterprises that are the bedrock of villages, towns, and cities” and that ‘’attempting to squeeze up to £1 billion out of the public purse at this time is totally unacceptable’’.

Gambling company Camelot has run the National Lottery for the past 28 years.

But on March 15, the Gambling Commission decided to award the 10 year-licence to run the lottery to Alwynn, a European competitor.

Camelot, which is entirely owned by the Canadian Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan, is currently fighting the decision in court, and is seeking up to £1bn in compensation.

The High Court had previously ruled on June 29 that Camelot had to start the process of handing over the National Lottery to Alwynn.

But the company was granted the right to appeal the decision on July 15, extending the court battle into the autumn.

Giving evidence to MPs in June, Andrew Rhodes, the chief executive of the Gambling Commission, admitted these damages could have to come out of the National Lottery Community Fund for good causes.

A Camelot spokesperson said: “Paying damages, if it turns out Camelot should have won, is the result of legal action taken by the Gambling Commission.

"We have written letters, been to court and are now in the Court of Appeal arguing to stop them.

“This massive bill is entirely avoidable by simply waiting until after the court ruling before issuing the contract to run The National Lottery.

“Good causes and the taxpayer should never have been put on the hook for hundreds of millions of pounds. Thankfully, there is still time for the regulator to change course, and we urge them to do so.”