Brown Decides

Gordon Brown has finally decided, or rather, finally effectively communicated his decision about his attendance at the Beijing Olympics in 2008.

He will not attend the opening ceremony, but will attend the closing ceremony where the handover to London will occur.

At first sight it may appear that Brown has taken on board (albeit late in the day) the calls by some to boycott the opening ceremony. I would note that many of those who call for a boycott seem happy enough to buy Chinese products (clothes, consumer electronics etc).

The reality about Brown's announcement is not quite so straightforward. In truth he was never going to both the opening and closing ceremony, it takes 20 hours round trip to fly to Beijing; the closing ceremony for Britain is far more important, as that is when the games are handed over.

Therefore Brown had long ago made his mind up to only go to the closing ceremony.

The question that remains unanswered is this:

Why did he take so long to communicate this?

The True Cost of The Games

I have stated many times on this site that the true cost of London's Olympics 2012 will be around £20BN; eg in this article published September 2007.

It would seem that, according to The Times, I am right.

Budgets for the Olympics buildings bear little resemblance to reality as costs skyrocket, eg the bill for the aquatics centre is already four times higher than the original bid price.

Jack Lemley, the former chairman of the ODA, has warned that the cost of the Olympics will come to £20BN and that Ken Livingstone and Tessa Jowell had been understating the true costs.

Quote:

"We will never be able to go really public with the full budget.

That was always suppressed and the mayor didn't want any significant growth in these budgets because it would create a bigger tax."

Needless to say, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport deny this.

Time will prove Lemley and myself right.

Springtime in Paris

The Olympics torch came a cropper in Paris yesterday, despite heavy police and Chinese protection for the torch, the relay was abandoned in the face of some very assertive protests.

Whether the cost in terms of lousy pr and wasted man hours in protecting the torch, on its round the world relay, is worth it is open to question.

The Olympics Torch

The Olympics torch managed to pass through London yesterday without being stolen, as some protesters tried to do.

There were scuffles and protests along the route, and 35 people were arrested; at some stages, the protection around the flame was three deep, making it almost impossible for the crowd to see it.

After a change of route, the Chinese ambassador was able to carry it unmolested through China town.

The cost of protecting the flame yesterday is estimated to be around £1M.

Money well spent?

The Olympic Torch

The Olympic torch for the 2008 Beijing Games arrives in London today, not via Terminal 5 Heathrow.

It is expected to receive an lively welcome.

Apathy

A poll, commissioned by the BBC, reveals that 70% of British people believe the 2012 London Olympics will bring no real benefit to their area.

This is hardly surprising, the government and quasi bureaucracies have a terrible track record when it comes to managing/implementing large scale projects; eg The Dome, Terminal 5 Heathrow, the budget for the 2012 Olympics etc.

There will be no tangible legacy from the Games that benefit the people of Britain.

The Olympic Torch

The Beijing Olympic torch is due to arrive in London in the coming days, as part of its world tour.

The original plan had been for it to arrive and be "welcomed" at London's "prestigious", "well functioning" new Terminal 5 at Heathrow.

However, given the ongoing fiasco at Heathrow, the torch will now arrive elsewhere in the airport.

This bodes ill for the 2012 London Games.

If we cannot even welcome a torch properly, how on earth do we welcome the thousands of Olympic tourists?