Seventy-five pence in every one pound spent on the Olympic site will aid regeneration in east London. The Olympics will be of tremendous benefit to certain run down areas of London badly in need of extra resources.
Instead of supporting the Olympic preparations and understanding the opportunity the Games will provide for London and the country as a whole, the House of Commons Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has now jumped on the anti-Olympic bandwagon. Edward Leigh, Tory Chairman of the PAC has accused ministers and officials of underestimating the true cost in order to win government and public support for the bid.
Tessa Jowell, the Olympics Minister, has denied that there was any intention to mislead on the costings for the Games. Quite right too. We need to stop whinging and get on with the Olympic project which will be good for London and good for Britain.
I would suggest that considering over 60% of Londoners believe the Olympics will not benefit, it is not wise to dismiss their concerns about spending quite so rashly. Yes it would be great to have a successful Olympics and urban regeneration, but spiralling costs and lack of foresight are a recipe for a white elephant.