THERE are some short memories among the Lottery Commissioners who yesterday agreed to renew Camelot's licence.

Have they forgotten their declaration just four months ago that Camelot was unfit to be considered for the franchise?

Have they forgotten that a jury ruled that one of Camelot's key figures resorted to attempted bribery to help it win the franchise first time round?

Have they forgotten the outcry during the "fat cat row" which exposed the vast salaries and bonuses paid to senior Camelot executives?

Memories are also short among Labour ministers. Have they forgotten their election pledge to have a non-profit making Lottery?

We suspect that the British public, those on whom the success of the Lottery ultimately depends, have longer memories. That is perhaps why ticket sales are running at an all-time low.

We have not been privy to the information supplied to the Commission by Sir Richard Branson's People's Lottery. Therefore, we are not in a position to judge the merits of his application.

But we do know that Camelot has long since lost its right to retain the franchise.

It lost that right in the libel trial and during the controversy over executive pay.

The concept of having the Lottery, conceived to raise money for good causes, run by a company whose primary aim is to make profits is fundamentally flawed.

That flaw was exposed, with little dissension, during Labour's election campaign. It is to their discredit that, in office, Labour ministers have failed to honour that commitment.

They may choose to hide behind the cloak of Lottery Commission independence, but that does not wash. If they weren't able to deliver an election pledge then they should not have made so much political capital out of it in the first place.

The Lottery Commission and the Government come out of this fiasco with no credit whatsoever.

Camelot also comes out of it with no credit.

It has appeared as a greedy enterprise desperate to hang on to the franchise. It has resorted to the courts, not for the sake of good causes, but for the sake of its big business shareholders hungry for more profits out of the pockets of the British public.

Unlike the Government and the Lottery Commission, the British public will not forget and many will begrudge buying tickets to create more profits for Camelot over the next seven years.

The tragedy of this shambles is that there is likely to be less money for good causes.