COLUMNIST Boris Johnson complained that the National Lottery’s grant to purchase archives of his idol Winston Churchill was a waste of money.

The purchase had been controversial as Winston Churchill’s grandson, Winston Churchill MP, had been trying to flog the papers for decades even though some believed it already belonged to the state, as it related to wartime strategies and notes.

The documents were eventually bought using a £12.5m lottery grant by Churchill College, Cambridge.

Mr Johnson wrote in his Telegraph column in 1995 that lottery players had “sacrificed their smokes and their Crunchies to buy a ticket”.

He wrote: “Maybe the nation’s lottery punters... would have mourned if their collected stakes had not found their way into the pockets of Winston Churchill MP and socialite, who will receive £12.5 million to keep the papers in this country.

“Maybe they are all delighted, the millions in the lower income groups, the factory workers, the shop assistants, the unemployed, that Lord Rothschild’s fund has also decided to buy Mar Lodge in Scotland for the nation.

“But at least they can console themselves, their money was not entirely wasted! Just think! The nation has claimed the finest stalking estate in Scotland!”

Mr Johnson sarcastically said that it was “ a relief to learn that Sir Richard Rogers, deputy chair of the arts council, left the room when the council decided to give £980,000 to his Crystal palace design for the South Bank.”

Since becoming Prime Minister, Boris Johnson and his cabinet have faced questions over a chumocracy in Whitehall, with contracts and jobs relating to the coronavirus pandemic being awarded to those with close ties to senior government ministers.