Another fine mess: Tony Blair and the London Olympics
Thursday, December 15, 2011 at 9:43 Interesting discussion over lunch yesterday.
A colleague told me about a conversation he had with a friend who works for the Department of Culture, Media and Sport.
Apparently, there was no great enthusiasm within the department for Britain to host the 2012 Olympics. Indeed, some people hoped that Paris would win the nomination and save us a large fortune.
London, it was argued privately, would still benefit because lots of Olympic visitors would stay here and travel to Paris on Eurostar. France would bear the cost of the whole thing and Britain would be sitting pretty.
However there was one minister who really wanted the Olympics to come to London and it wasn't Tessa Jowell, former Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, now shadow minister for the Olympics. It was the prime minister, Tony Blair.
Allegedly there was even an attempt to nobble Blair's visit to Tokyo where the IOC was meeting to decide the nomination. Sadly the plot was foiled and the PM (with a little help from Seb Coe, David Beckham and others) triumphed.
Cue long faces at DCMS.
Now, I am told, officials privately laugh at the idea that the Olympics will come in on budget. For example, the current figure (£9 billion) doesn't cover the cost of security which could add a further £2-3 billion.
Money well spent, I'm sure you'll agree.
Meanwhile our erstwhile prime minister, the man who really, really wanted a London Olympics, is nowhere to be seen.
Not for the first time, Tony Blair has left someone else to pay for the mess.
Reader Comments (1)
At last, some politicians now admit to feeling the same as the majority of the population!
How much more good could have been done with the money being wasted on such prestige?
No matter though, Tony Blair got his ego well and truly rubbed, again!!