64 replies to this topic

[RetiredMember2]

With costs to the tax payer currently at £9.3 billion the news that a further £41m needs to be nabbed from the public purse is cause for further concern.

"The money for the Olympic and Paralympic opening and closing ceremonies has been doubled to more than £80 million.
Prime Minister David Cameron has agreed to put in an extra £41 million after seeing the plans.
But it's sparked a row over who pays for what - because the cash boost has come from public money.
Funding for the ceremonies usually comes from the London 2012 organisers' private budget."

more on http://www.bbc.co.uk...sround/16046050


This time it's in the name of PR, at least that's how Sports Minister Hugh Robertson puts it "It's about the impression that people take away of this country." You don't say! I think the August riots may have scuppered Mr Robertson's plans for sport to put the UK on the tourist map. If I were him I'd scrap the re-direction of yet more public (Londoners') money into this fiasco and pour it into promoting UK sports by investing in, O I dunno, how about we start with school sports budgets that were axed this year to save £162M -

I dunno us Brits, what are we like? We pay the highest taxes in the world, we pay substantially more for electrical goods, cars, clothes, fuel - you name it - than our European counterparts, we invest growing portions of our salaries in pension schemes that we cannot draw upon until we're too old to enjoy and as if that doesn't show just how darn stoical and chipper we are how about the bit about bailing out the banks when we're brassy (even though they won't lend back to us) and now, ladies and gentlemen, for our next trick we are going to further fund the Olympic carnival to help out all those poor old corporate companies who are, let's face it, running a tight ship at the moment *cue violins*

[misspoddy]

gggrrrrrrrrr don't get me started on the bloody olympics!!!!!!!

[Canon]

What misspoddy said............makes my bloody boil

[andreas]

Is it too late to ask Paris to take it on? Euroland could always sell Greece to pay for it.

[Ziwa]

Or just do it in Athens again. They've built the infrastructure, they could use the tourist funds. Might solve two problems at once.

Reduce, reuse, recycle...why not?

[misspoddy]

Excellent idea Ziwa! I'll vote for that!

[Axean]

yes, definitely think the Olympic Games should have a permanent base, though I'd suggest somewhere around Olympia rather than Athens.
In the years it's not being used the Olympic Village could be run as a tourist facility
A permanent base in Greece seem such an obvious idea I guess the IOC must have a position on it, anyone know what it is?

[andreas]

A permanent base in Greece seem such an obvious idea I guess the IOC must have a position on it, anyone know what it is?

Fortunately there could be no suspicion whatsoever that opportunties for freebies and backhanders would have any bearing on the thinking of this august institution.

[Local]

Do IOC have the same impeccable credentials as FIFA? Must be something about international sport.

[sydenhamcentral]

Do we really have the highest taxes in the work? http://en.wikipedia....round_the_world

[Axean]

Do we really have the highest taxes in the work? http://en.wikipedia....round_the_world

I;m not sure, but we definitaly have the worst edit function for correcting spelling errors in the world

[Elmo]

My mother was an international athlete. I have loads of Olympic tickets. Ergo I'm more than just a little excited by the prospect of having the biggest and best sporting event in the world on our doorstep! Happy to be in the minority

[Summit Lover]

My mother was an international athlete. I have loads of Olympic tickets. Ergo I'm more than just a little excited by the prospect of having the biggest and best sporting event in the world on our doorstep! Happy to be in the minority

Go Elmo! (champion real ale consumer!)

[sydenhamcentral]

I;m not sure, but we definitaly have the worst edit function for correcting spelling errors in the world

True, I tried to change it but kept getting an error!

[St. Lukes Railings]

My mother was an international athlete. I have loads of Olympic tickets. Ergo I'm more than just a little excited by the prospect of having the biggest and best sporting event in the world on our doorstep! Happy to be in the minority

Elmo. I hear you brother. I can't believe residents of this wonderful city would not want to host it. I baulked at the idea of just London council tax payers paying for the thing (especially when there are numerous venues outside of London) and not getting priority tickets as a result. BUT, I remember being proud as punch when we got the vote over the cheese eating surrender monkeys.