£9.3 Billion London Olympics Of No Benefit To UK
WE all remember their faces – has-been athletes such as Steve Cram and Kelly Holmes, not to mention Lord Sebastian of Coe, erupting with joy as the decision to award the 2012 Olympic games to London was made. (Pic: Beau Bo D’Or.)
Yet while these ex-Olympians celebrated the undoubted extra media work they’d get over the next seven years, and London property developers danced in the street, the reality for ordinary Britons was less certain.
Now, in a new report for the Greater London Assembly, researchers claim the 2012 games – the cost has quadrupled to a staggering £9.3 billion – will struggle to create a boom in jobs, sport and even housing.
In looking at the impact of the games on former hosts Athens, Sydney, Atlanta and Barcelona, the authors of the report found that the cites all struggled to benefit from the event, with Greece even losing 70,000 jobs just after the 2004 games.
Increased participation in sports also failed to rise significantly after the event while infrastructure improvements mainly benefited international residents and those lovely property developers.
Expect to see a herd of White Elephants rampaging around the East End after 2012.
Posted: 14th, May 2007 | In: Back pages Comment (1) | TrackBack | Permalink
