Minister attacks 'vile' hate-mail campaign

A cabinet minister is to tell MPs of her dismay at the "vile" hate-mail campaign directed at the National Lottery Community Fund.

Tessa Jowell, the Secretary of State for Culture, will make her feelings clear in a Commons debate on the National Lottery next week. The Tories called the debate after a campaign by the Daily Mail against lottery grants to groups which help gay people and asylum-seekers.

The Tories intend to use the debate to highlight their concern that lottery funding has been diverted away from the original "good causes", such as the arts and sports, to questionable organisations. A spokesman said the party did not wish to judge individual grants to gay groups or asylum- seekers' organisations.

"The attention is to ensure that the money goes to good causes like the Arts and Sports Councils. We are concerned about proceeds not going to these good causes and being used to prop up Government spending," the spokesman said.

On Tuesday, a grant to the National Coalition of Anti-Deportation Campaigns will be reviewed by the board of the lottery fund. The fund, chaired by Lady Brittan, is expected to uphold the grant, which was suspended because the group had supported Palestinian asylum-seekers linked to terrorism. The board is expected to attach stringent conditions to the £340,000 grant and the group is likely to be told that the money cannot fund political activities.

Ms Jowell has asked her officials to obtain copies of the dozens of racist, anti-Semitic and threatening letters which were sent to Lady Brittan and her colleagues after the Daily Mail invited its readers to "vent your anger" at the lottery grants. Ms Jowell said yesterday: "The way Diana Brittan and her staff have been treated is vile and unfair. If you disagree with Diana's grant then you have every right to tell her so and thousands have, but nobody has the right to threaten her or her staff."

Simon Weston, the Falklands War veteran whose name was used by the Daily Mail in its campaign after he spoke at the Tory party conference and drew attention to funding for veterans' groups, reiterated his concerns about the hate-mail the newspaper had unleashed. He thanked The Independent for having highlighted his views. "My biggest worry is that I was aligned to a campaign I don't like,'' he said.

Mr Weston spoke to the Daily Mail yesterday and said he did not want to be associated with its views on asylum-seekers and the campaign it was waging. "They now know that I am not aligned with any campaign," he said. "I never blasted the lottery like they said." Mr Weston said he had no personal grievance against the Daily Mail but hoped that following his public criticism "maybe they might pull back from the terrible campaign they have been running".

Jon Steafel, executive editor of the Mail, told BBC Radio 4 that Mr Weston had said he was happy with the way his speech had been reported to the Tories. Mr Steafel stressed the newspaper had not sought to target Lady Brittan personally.

MPs have tabled a motion in the Commons condemning the threats received by Lady Brittan. Black and Jewish groups said the sending of anti-Semitic or racist messages could never be condoned. The Community Security Trust, which protects British Jews against anti-Semitic attacks, said it was concerned by the abuse directed at Lady Brittan.