The Scottish National Party’s Patrick Grady put his EuroMillions question to Karen Bradley, the secretary of state for culture, at Westminster this week, asking her “what discussions her department has had with the operators of the National Lottery” regarding UK citizens’ participation in the lottery, post-Brexit.
Quite what prompted the Glasgow MP’s question during this period of concern over the cost of living and increasingly expensive imports is not entirely clear, but Conservative politicians were quick to assure Mr Grady that the lottery was not at risk.
Junior minister Tracey Crouch reminded Mr Grady that EuroMillions participation and the EU membership were not mutually exclusive, pointing out that people in Switzerland — one of the few non-EU countries on the European continent — have been taking part in the popular lottery for more than a decade.
Scottish Conservative deputy leader Jackson Carlaw, meanwhile, took the opportunity to poke fun at his political rival for his apparent concern over EuroMillions, alluding to the fact that previous jackpot winners Chris and Colin Weir donated £2 million to Mr Grady’s party in 2011 when he remarked that “it's perhaps no surprise the nationalists are getting jumpy about the competition's future”.
Regardless of their political leanings, EuroMillions players in the UK can rest assured that no matter the shape of the political and financial landscape once Britain removes itself from the European Union, EuroMillions will not be affected, and that sizeable jackpots like this Friday’s estimated £51 million should still be a common occurrence.