Has Tony dropped the ball? Phototgraph: PA
This Sunday The Observer launches a campaign to put sport at the top of the political agenda. Brian Oliver, Observer Sports Editor, explains our point on the front of his section of the paper ... and on the blog right now:
£5bn - the Treasury's net gain from sport in Britain last year. It is a figure that should shame a government that is forever telling us about the benefits that sport can bring to the nation's health – particularly among schoolchildren – and even to the fight against crime. Obesity and heart-attack statistics are 10 times worse here than in other developed countries, and £8bn of healthcare money was spent last year treating people whose ill health was caused by inactivity.
School sport is too often overlooked and at grassroots level – a world away from the glamour of the Premiership, the Olympics, England's rugby-union world champions and the best England cricket team in years – British sport is in a shocking state, largely through government indifference.
Money is desperately needed for coaching and recruitment as well as for improved facilities - without it our two national sports, football and cricket, will continue to lose thousands of players every week.
No sports minister has had any real clout and no coherent plans for the future exist. Lottery money is drying up and no serious Treasury funding has ever been committed to sport. Despite its limited progress in some areas, especially in schools, this Government has no better idea than any of its predecessors what sport is and where it fits into a modern society. Sports ministers over the years have worked in six different departments of state, and the Football Association is working on projects for seven different ministries this week. In 2005 it should not be like this.
Over the next four weeks The Observer 'Vote Sport' campaign will look at the big picture of British sport, at Whitehall's pitiful efforts, at lifestyle changes that paint a bleak picture for team sports, and at the state of school sport. An important debate in London in two weeks, with current and former sports ministers on the panel, will discuss the problems and ask the crucial question: 'Why doesn't sport matter more?' Brian Oliver, Sports Editor.
