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VVV well said Mark

[RichardMannion]

Originally posted by MarkJ
Thats it - we get the opportunity to stage the Olympics for the first time since 1948 and now everything is a problem - it really makes me mad!! I am proud that we have the Olympics, I was proud when we won it and I will be proud if we have the World Cup here some day.

I heard a radio interview the yesterday with some Tory twot who just slated the whole thing, FFS lets get behind it and lets embrace the whole event intstead of being our usual english selves and seeing the glass as half empty!!

And why will it be "a mess"?

Mark,

Appreciate your opinion but lets have a quick look at facts:

By what magnitude has the projected cost gone up from the original proposal when they 'won' up until now?

Who is actually paying for this? If I recall, every London household has an additional £100 per year on their council tax to help pay for it. Were they asked if they wanted the Olympics? The Lottery fund has been raped and pilaged too, at the detriment of other causes to help make up the multi-billion pound difference in budgets. I can see the next farce being the shortage of corporate sponsors, bearing in mind the top package is £100m and they have several of those they need to sell.

Come 2012, lets think what prices will be like around London? I'm with Dave, I think LadyS and I will be on some world tour somewhere entitled, anywhere but London.

I foresee a few more years of revelations, farces and absolute cock-ups before this really gets off the ground. But to show I am not compeltely knocking the country, we have done some great work before with Euro 96 and the 02 Commonwealth games, but I think the government has frankly bitten off more than they can chew this time. £9.6bn could have been used so more effectively, say to give the NHS a much needed revitalisation.

Thanks,
Richard

Originally posted by RichardMannion
but I think the government has frankly bitten off more than they can chew this time. £9.6bn could have been used so more effectively, say to give the NHS a much needed revitalisation.

I dont disagree with much of what you say at all - but if we never took any of these things on then we woudl never do anything - of course there is always money that can be spent on the NHS or the transport infrastructure or a host of other things.

My main gripe at the moment is that there are a number of people who "want" it to fail before and are the harningers of doom on every occasion. Of course its rigth and proper that costs shoudl be monitored and identified and the correct management put in to run it - but I am pretty sure thats not gonna be anyone around here!! So unfortunately we have to sit back and let them get on with it.

If supposed lesser countries like Greece, Australia and Mexico can host the Olympics then surely we ought to be able to!!

Im just fed up with the knockers (and no puns please!!)[V]

[honey lamb]

Originally posted by MarkJ


If supposed lesser countries like Greece, Australia and Mexico can host the Olympics then surely we ought to be able to!!

Lesser countries? By what and whose criterion?

Originally posted by honey lamb

Originally posted by MarkJ


If supposed lesser countries like Greece, Australia and Mexico can host the Olympics then surely we ought to be able to!!

Lesser countries? By what and whose criterion?

If "supposed" it read!!

Originally posted by MarkJ

Mark I cannot agree with you more. This country has an excellent way of making things fail before they happen. The farce of the World Athletics Championships shows this.

I had to laugh the other night when watching Question Time, a certain Daily Mail journalist in one answer claimed this country wasnt proud of being British and how we should get behind our country etc and then in her next answer slagged off the Olympics. What better way to show your Britishness and pride by putting on the best Olympics ever?!?

Please for gods sake, lets stop all the negative spin and show the world we can do it. I can think of nothing worse than people saying "The French would have done it better".


The beneifts that will be brought to London and the UK will be massive to sport and whilst I am no spin doctor the Olympics will have a knock on effect in other areas and not just sport.

I do believe that Londoners had the chance to decide if they wanted the games- it is called the Mayor of London election and if they didnt like the Olympics then the simple answer was to not vote for old Kenny boy.

So lets stop the typical British moaning and complaining and get on with it.

Rant Over

Originally posted by RichardMannion
£9.6bn could have been used so more effectively, say to give the NHS a much needed revitalisation.

Given that the NHS gets an extra £9.6bn to spend every month (gross overexaggeration) what makes you think that a paltry (in NHS spending terms) further £9.6bn would result in a revitalisation, Richard? The NHS is institutionally arrogant to its paymasters, customers and staff alike. Threatening to take £9.6bn AWAY from its budget might revitalise more than giving them more of our taxes. But all that's for a whole new thread.