Why should London always get first pickings?

The news that Wales gets less National Lottery cash than 'affluent' London areas, gives me the opportunity . to reshow the moment  when Jeremy Paxman was wiped the floor with by Eurfyl ap Gwilym from Plaid Cymru on the issue of Welsh funding. He even ends up trying to claim that London isn't a region of England.

 

According to the BBC

Three London constituencies received more National Lottery cash than the whole of Wales in the last 20 years.
The Cities of London and Westminster, Holborn and St Pancras and Islington South and Finsbury received more than £1.8bn, research by BBC Wales shows.
Meanwhile, Wales has received just over £1.4bn since 1999, 10 times less per person than those constituencies.
The National Lottery said it distributes money based on a UK government formula.
There are "a number of reasons" for the disparity, said Oswyn Hughes, head of campaigns for the National Lottery in Wales, including the concentration in London of national institutions such as art galleries and museums, and the headquarters of national charities and organisations.
He added the formula is set by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) and is "based predominantly on population" size. The DCMS has been asked to comment.
Office for National Statistics (ONS) figures show the three London constituencies have a population of 396,059, meaning their combined per capita lottery funding is about £4,640.
This is more than 10 times that of Wales which, with a population of 3.1m, receives about £450 per person.
Over 50,000 projects in Wales have benefited from this funding. This has obviously created life changing opportunities for projects, communities and people in these communities across Wales over the last 25 years," Mr Hughes added.
"My message is simple: If you have got an idea for a fantastic community project in your area, whether that's in the fields of sports, arts, heritage or community, then our National Lottery distributors want to hear from you."

Of course the likes of Paxman may point to  figures that England overasll may lose out

• England, population 55.62m, received about £20.9bn = £376 per person
• Scotland, population 5.43m, received about £2.45bn = £451 per person
• Wales, population 3.13m, received about £1.41bn = £450 per person
• Northern Ireland, population 1.87m, received about £845m = £452 per person

But it is the London centricity that is the news here, even to the point that English Regions may be losing out even more than we in Wales.

London gets "First Pickings"  and all to often the furthest from it you are are left with scraps from the table.

It is a pattern , which Wales and Scotland should seek to avoid and not replicate the UK with the majority of investment concentrated in Cardiff and Edinburgh .

It is an "All roads lead to Rome" syndrom  used to be literal and figuritive because during the time of the Pax Romana, all roads in the Roman empire did actually lead to Rome, so trade would frequently stop there.

The National Lottery has been called a Tax on the stupid as people (often those with the lowest incomes) try and win for them selves a future even though the chances of them winning are very low.

However the real story is how much of the money raised goes to "Good Causes".

it seems like all aspects of the UK economy, London is a special case.