Comments
Who says Britain can't deliver the best?
2009-06-02 08:08:38
You can have all the factual analysis you want, but sometimes major government decisions have to rely on the instinct of the major figures in the government. Whether or not to go for the Olympics in 2012 was one such decision.
As I record in my diaries (page 657) we were getting all sorts of conflicting advice and ‘people were blowing hot and cold not according to hard fact and analysis. Tessa [Jowell, now Olympics minster] had definitely moved towards yes, others had moved away. The worry I sensed was that we would say no simply because it was easier than saying yes, and then regret it.'
It was all the more easy to say no because at the time the government's agenda was dominated by Iraq. The short record I made of the Cabinet discussion on the Olympics points out that the main mood was ‘yes but', with heavy emphasis on the buts.
But there was another important moment in the decision-making process, which for length reasons only did not make the edited version of my diaries, but will one day see the light of day. That was when ‘Team GB' presented us with a huge folder full of letters, mainly hand-written, from sportsmen and women pleading with the government to go for the Games.
TB spent part of the weekend reading through them. Already keen to over-ride the scepticism of some of his colleagues, the entreaties of the athletes ran with the grain of his instinct, and had a big impact on the way he subsequently won the sceptics round.
I thought about all that yesterday, and of the role he played in persuading the IOC to opt for London over Paris, when I was lucky enough to get a personal tour of the Olympic Park. People talk a lot about legacy in politics. Yesterday it was actually possible to see the legacy of that decision in 2003 being built.
Put to one side the fact, as visitors here know, that I am obsessed with sport. What was fantastic about the place was simply the scale of evidence unfolding before your eyes that when people say UK PLC is not up to big projects, they are talking rubbish.
Ok, Wembley took too long and cost too much. The Scottish Parliament took too long and cost too much. The Dome - another decision where TB's instinct led the way - was widely deemed a disaster at the time but is now reckoned to be one of the best music venues in the world (and will host gymnastics and other sports in 2012).
But the Olympic Park is on a scale far bigger than the lot of them put together. It is the size of Hyde Park. And it is coming together at an extraordinary pace. Why else, you might ask, do we hear next to nothing about it? Because it is going fine. There are very few negatives and steady progress towards the meeting of objectives doesn't make for good headlines.
The stadium is beginning to look like a stadium, and they only started building it a year ago. An extraordinarily ingenious engineering project is well underway to pave the way for the roof of the aquatics centre to go on. The foundations of the velodrome are going down in an area that for the previous century was a landfill tip. Several of the planned thirty bridges are being built. Huge lift shafts are now clearly visible where eventually 17000 athletes and officials will be housed in the Olympic village, which afterwards will house London families.
There is some impressive action on sustainability going on too. Ninety per cent of the materials from demolition of the 250 buildings that were here before has been re-used on site. There is a giant soil cleaning operation going on to decontaminate the poisoned land that was here before. Half of the materials arrive in the Park by rail or water (the river Lea dissects the park). They have their own concrete batching plant on site. And the legacy plans are already being talked about with every bit as much enthusiasm as the centrepiece stadium, including the new school that will be built when the stadium is reduced from 80000 t0 25000 capacity after the Games.
Fears that the credit crunch would lead to loss of confidence in the massive Westfield shopping centre project on the edge of the park (a billion pound investment) have proven unfounded. That too is emerging visibly, and quickly, from the rubble.
Construction will provide 30,000 jobs between now and July 27 2012 when the Games begin. There is a strict health and safety policy which so far, touch wood, has seen few injuries and no deaths despite the mass of heavy vehicle, crane and engineering activity.
The Lower Lea Valley is in the process of total transformation thanks to these Games. But the whole of London, and the whole of the UK will benefit - from the Games themselves, the sporting and social legacy, the image Britain can show to the rest of the world, and the hope and confidence that will come from being seen to take on such a challenge, and meet it. Each year, the Olympic Delivery Authority is publicly setting milestones to be met in the next 12-month period so that people can follow and judge progress for themselves. They are on track to complete the next set on target by July 27, three years out from the opening ceremony.
As we toured the site, my eye kept being drawn to the half laid white piping at the top of the main stadium. In two years' time, the stadium will be completed, and will quickly become one of the iconic images of London. In a little over three years, 80,000 people will be screaming themselves hoarse as acts of sporting greatness unfold.
And as they do, I for one will be very grateful that a decade earlier, despite ‘the worry that we would say no simply because it was easier than saying yes, and then regret it' we didn't say no, we said yes, let's go for it, so go for it we did, and we got it, and the Games will be a resounding success. I'm more sure of it after yesterday than ever.
Take a look for yourself at http://www.london2012.com/index.php
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Contrast Cheney and BushPublish date: 2009-05-24 12:11:45
Sex (or at least the female form) obsessed BritainPublish date: 2009-05-23 20:49:57
Sport at both ends of the financial spectrumPublish date: 2009-05-23 09:57:23
Stronger together - whether Scotland or expensesPublish date: 2009-05-22 10:22:36
Back to Number 10, familiar faces, familiar argumentsPublish date: 2009-05-21 10:14:34
Speaking up for ParliamentPublish date: 2009-05-20 11:44:17
Peace in the Middle East - yes he canPublish date: 2009-05-19 09:37:35
Breaking news - one frenzy at a timePublish date: 2009-05-18 10:34:30
Getting a good look at Vince CablePublish date: 2009-05-17 09:36:55
How do you solve a problem like Silvio?Publish date: 2009-05-16 09:32:21
It was the internet wot won itPublish date: 2009-05-15 10:04:57
There now follows ... a good whack at CameronPublish date: 2009-05-14 17:21:28
They got their kit off - so you get your cash outPublish date: 2009-05-14 07:41:11
Expenses row must not obscure Tory intentions on minimum wagePublish date: 2009-05-13 16:12:08
We love you Burnley, we do ... what a nightPublish date: 2009-05-13 02:37:17
A tweet cannot express the wonders of TGVPublish date: 2009-05-12 08:48:31
It's Mind week - Get it off your Chest with me and Stephen FryPublish date: 2009-05-11 06:29:15
Hate the Mail, love ObamaPublish date: 2009-05-10 10:04:00
Burnley 1 Reading 0 - a biased reportPublish date: 2009-05-09 21:26:32
MPs expenses - time for party leaders to meet againPublish date: 2009-05-09 09:50:19
Should happiness replace prosperity as national goal?Publish date: 2009-05-08 08:43:23
Musings from a sleepless nightPublish date: 2009-05-07 07:33:49
Darren Fletcher - an injustice that has to be rightedPublish date: 2009-05-06 09:52:29
Maggie's legacy not as great as she thinksPublish date: 2009-05-05 08:33:02
Here's hoping Cardiff is metaphor for CameronPublish date: 2009-05-04 09:38:30
More Mr Benn and Co pleasePublish date: 2009-05-03 10:03:00
Going Fourth with JPPublish date: 2009-05-02 18:25:41
Journalism - print first, think laterPublish date: 2009-05-02 09:10:01
In praise of two poetsPublish date: 2009-05-01 10:26:36
JP hits the road againPublish date: 2009-04-29 18:52:11
My night with Eddie IzzardPublish date: 2009-04-29 10:53:25
Explaining the 50p top tax ratePublish date: 2009-04-28 09:22:53
George Best and Martin McGuinnessPublish date: 2009-04-27 09:02:35
Cameron confused over indepdendence and impartialityPublish date: 2009-04-26 12:20:56
Guide ro Marathon running part 2Publish date: 2009-04-25 11:01:34
Good signals on coal and the OlympicsPublish date: 2009-04-24 10:45:28
Tips for the London MarathonPublish date: 2009-04-23 17:29:27
Missed the Budget, saw why it matteredPublish date: 2009-04-22 23:09:31
Football good, politics bad. AllegedlyPublish date: 2009-04-22 00:00:24
The Great Wall gets greaterPublish date: 2009-04-21 09:55:22
Two sides to police storyPublish date: 2009-04-20 11:39:54
Budgets, Balls, billionaires and Susan BoylePublish date: 2009-04-19 12:31:45
Do muscles have memories?Publish date: 2009-04-18 09:44:44
Bring back standing at footballPublish date: 2009-04-17 14:50:22
When Facebook friends fall outPublish date: 2009-04-16 12:29:16
Guardian sightings and the email and bath plug agendaPublish date: 2009-04-15 11:32:16
The spin is all in the prismPublish date: 2009-04-14 09:22:41
A setback, not a crisisPublish date: 2009-04-13 12:55:19
The real lessons from Damian McBridePublish date: 2009-04-12 10:49:47
Will English always be the dominant language?Publish date: 2009-04-11 10:02:02
On the pipes and what makes a ScotPublish date: 2009-04-10 11:06:20
John Prescott lazy? NO WAYPublish date: 2009-04-09 09:11:31
David Frost is seventyPublish date: 2009-04-08 08:48:38
The Speaker, BBC2, tonight and tomorrow 8pmPublish date: 2009-04-07 14:25:31
Obama, colds and being woken by Korean missilesPublish date: 2009-04-06 11:59:24
When a call matters more than protocolPublish date: 2009-04-05 11:33:42
Green Cities Champions LeaguePublish date: 2009-04-04 10:19:53
Could Cameron have delivered the G20 deal?Publish date: 2009-04-03 10:11:59
Of Benn and BonoPublish date: 2009-04-02 08:21:16
Memo to Sarko - allez vite a LondresPublish date: 2009-04-01 08:46:17
Happy April Fool's DayPublish date: 2009-04-01 01:44:05
Eurostar, Le Monde and a thought for the G20 sherpasPublish date: 2009-03-31 09:17:22
Why Kevin Rudd made an impactPublish date: 2009-03-30 10:24:41
Pre-G20 hype matters less than post-G20 processPublish date: 2009-03-29 13:17:28
The Damned UnitedPublish date: 2009-03-28 10:37:04
A hobby horse, a plug and a bit of sportPublish date: 2009-03-27 10:22:23
Cloughie - he had a lot to be big-headed aboutPublish date: 2009-03-26 09:38:36
A sad sight of the old fearing the youngPublish date: 2009-03-25 17:03:07
Post-modern, post-structural, or bullshit?Publish date: 2009-03-25 08:18:02
Learning the right lessons from ObamaPublish date: 2009-03-24 08:53:15
Lazy Dave needs to keep an eye on lazy KenPublish date: 2009-03-23 11:16:14
Farewell favourite restaurant, hello hometownPublish date: 2009-03-22 08:18:09
Dave, Danny and have the Tories really changed?Publish date: 2009-03-21 08:55:13
Life beyond Dover ...Publish date: 2009-03-20 10:11:21
My friends in The New Statesman - Fergie, Fiona, Tony, Sarah, Kevin, 'Dacre,' and a great GB idea for the G20Publish date: 2009-03-18 10:38:22
Iraq, Iran, GB, Obama and diplomatic chessPublish date: 2009-03-17 10:07:13
The Age of StupidPublish date: 2009-03-16 08:27:13
Is all change good?Publish date: 2009-03-15 10:00:06
The pressure of being a post-modern sex godPublish date: 2009-03-14 10:00:55
Cameron still hasn't sealed the deal with businessPublish date: 2009-03-13 09:21:49
Stand up for social workersPublish date: 2009-03-12 08:31:17
Surely Malcolm Tucker could have told Armando Ianucci ... You can't spin a spinnerPublish date: 2009-03-11 10:58:25
Start of a new approach from Labour?Publish date: 2009-03-10 09:54:12
A peace process still strongPublish date: 2009-03-09 08:21:05
Day of destiny for the real footballer of the yearPublish date: 2009-03-08 09:21:06
Private advice to Peggy Mitchell - the leaked note in fullPublish date: 2009-03-07 08:17:21
Boris, the Tories and the tummy-tickling poodle pressPublish date: 2009-03-06 09:49:37
A day in the life of the self-obsessed TV reporterPublish date: 2009-03-05 07:55:47
GB - good speech, well deliveredPublish date: 2009-03-04 19:31:05
Notes on the environment, a role in EastEndersPublish date: 2009-03-04 10:58:56
She may be my 'wife' but it is time to rebut!Publish date: 2009-03-03 10:52:59
Some speeches matter more than othersPublish date: 2009-03-02 12:04:45
Mental health and the Carling Cup FinalPublish date: 2009-03-01 09:08:17
Inside the chocolate factoryPublish date: 2009-02-28 10:23:59
GB on the G20, JP on Jeremy KylePublish date: 2009-02-27 09:14:36
Charity and the credit crunch, please give generously!Publish date: 2009-02-26 08:55:12
Why oh why are the Tories not home and dry?Publish date: 2009-02-24 09:44:59
Me, Dermot and ten top songsPublish date: 2009-02-23 10:02:19
Names round-upPublish date: 2009-02-22 08:43:39
What's in a name?Publish date: 2009-02-21 09:58:14
Editing the New StatesmanPublish date: 2009-02-20 11:42:36
Salute Peter M’s proper use of the F wordPublish date: 2009-02-19 09:58:58
Labour's communications challenge for the NHSPublish date: 2009-02-18 10:34:39
In praise of KeighleyPublish date: 2009-02-17 14:33:57
A night at the EmiratesPublish date: 2009-02-17 00:06:51
When marriage is testedPublish date: 2009-02-16 13:36:35
Spare me the myths and the whiningPublish date: 2009-02-15 13:29:50
Dave Cameron - is that all there is?Publish date: 2009-02-14 11:11:55
Boris Johnson: F is for ...Publish date: 2009-02-13 07:55:10
The Cameron vacuumPublish date: 2009-02-12 14:48:33
Lincoln, Obama, Blair and the 24 hour media culturePublish date: 2009-02-11 10:28:47
Eighteen interviews later ...Publish date: 2009-02-10 19:24:45
Time to talk about Time to Change on NewsnightPublish date: 2009-02-09 22:47:49
So that’s what they mean by online community?Publish date: 2009-02-08 12:12:51
First blogPublish date: 2009-02-05 15:23:57
gary Enefer
2009-06-03 08:31:09Sadiq khan has sent out an email asking people to vote for anyone accept the BNP. Even if you don't vote Labour voting to stop these awful people is a better option.
Sadiq is working very hard at present to help his constituents.
Fellow bloggers - any ideas on who one should vote for?
Thomas Rossetti
2009-06-02 20:29:10Interesting article, Alastair, but I think it's too early to say that the decision on the London Olympics was the right one. Juan Antonio Samaranch declared the 2000 Sydney Olympics the "best ever" and yet, years after the games, residents were enraged that the Olympic Village site was derelict and unused.
Rather like the Iraq war -- which may yet prove to have a positive outcome -- Britain bid for the Games on a series of half-truths and deception. (According to "The Guardian" Ken Livingstone has admitted he *knew* the original budget for the 2012 Olympics was an underestimate and that it was likely to rise significantly if the Games were awarded to the capital. When people knowingly deceive the police they get into all sorts of trouble; when politicians deceive the public nothing happens.)
It is simply outrageous to twist the facts to suit your purposes on the grounds that whatever you're proposing will be beneficial to people in the end. It implies that they are too stupid to understand the facts.
If I wished to marry someone I wouldn't tell the girl (falsely) that I had a million pounds in the bank on the grounds that the marriage would benefit us both in the long run anyway. I would tell her the truth and let her decide for herself.
http://twitter.com/thomasrossetti
JimF
2009-06-02 19:45:27AlanQuinn - the IOC specified they wanted a compact games where possible in the bid document. London had to bid on the basis of one city and most venues close by.
Now, when they are looking at saving money by moving boxing to Wembley Arena (next door to stadium, where I work) one of the considerations is the IOC desire for compact games. Not a conspiracy/anti-north thing but a bid requirement. Lots of teams will base themselves around the country so everyone will benefit.
Glad the games are going well. They get b*gger all praise for it. The bid guys passed on a document to us at Wembley with the six stages of a successful project from the Sydney organising committee.
It read:
1. Euphoria
2. Disenchantment
3. Search for the Guilty
4. Persecution of the Innocent
5. Successful completion
and finally...
6. Glorification of the uninvolved
BarBar of Oz
2009-06-02 16:30:23The funniest story I read about the Olympics was in Cherie Blair's autobio. This was at the G8 dinner when Japanese PM Koizumi leant across the table to the surrender monkey Chirac and said loudly "What do you think Jacques? Very good food here?" And burst out laughing. This was in reference to Chirac having said Britain had the worst food in the world. Everybody turned to look at the Queen, who assumed an expression of mystification. Chirac said to her: "I didn't say it". "Say what?" replied Her maj. Koizumi apparently went on to lead the gathering in singing Happy Birthday to George Bush. He must have had a few pints, Koizumi. He was quite a doll, imo.
And the next day was the terror attack, so the Olympics got lost. It was great to go to that site, Alistair. Thanks.
Pete
2009-06-02 14:43:48Just been on this website
http://www.wekip.org/
it is hilarious
Lucy Hill
2009-06-02 13:12:22Dear Alistair,
Hope you don't mind me writing... I wrote an article published in the Guardian a few days before yours in the Mirror in February.
The link to the edited version is http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2009/feb/06/lucy-hill-breakdown-shanghai and if you are interested I can send you a copy of the original which is more candid. (Mind also have a copy you could ask for if you would prefer)
I applaud your discussion of depression, panic and bipolar disorder.
What's your take on psychosis and schizophrenia?
Best regards,
Lucy
Colin Morley
2009-06-02 13:07:54Hope you're right - that everything continues to go according to plan and that GB hosts a memorable 2012 Olympics. Worry - not the regeneration and optimism - that is great - just what the country needs in fact. Worry is those who are displaced and what will replace life for them. I am old enough to remember the wholesale dismantling of communities in the sixties to make way for "modern living" - OK it made life better for a few - but it changed the landscape and the culture of whole swathes of England (and presumably Wales and Scotland) and not always for the better. Change is inevitable and should wherever possible be for good. But if I were a displaced East Ender right now I may not feel so charitable.
Vortex Wingtips
2009-06-02 12:54:58Would like to hear your views on the ministers, the politicians and the lame exscuses they are giving for "errors" and "poor accounting". I think every one of those mp's named and shamed should offer themselves up for reselection before the next election
Serena
2009-06-02 12:45:58Talking of the Olympics just read you're a great fan of 'Chariots of Fire' on today's Guardian!!
http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/series/stillslife
JimF
2009-06-02 10:12:36"Wembley took too long and cost too much".
A year late granted, but built with private money for a lower construction cost than the Olympic Stadium. A lot of the £800m was finance costs and governments can borrow at cheaper rates than private finance.
Wembley has a much bigger footprint, a bigger capacity more facilities. For less money.
Malcolm Ball
2009-06-02 10:03:25I agree with the post that says this might coincide with the upturn and give us a real head's start. But the pride I feel in Britain doing this is weakened by the dunderheaded behaviour of our Football Associations in Scotland, wales and Northern Ireland whose refual to commit players to a UK team risks making them a laughing stock. It also deprives their players of the one chance they are likely to have of winning a global tournament medal. Talk about short sighted
Northern Frank
2009-06-02 10:01:13So tjey even make the concrete in London ... I thought these Games were going to be for jobs for the whole country?? Mind you, as far as the sport is concerned, I will defo look forward to that
Jamie Hills
2009-06-02 09:56:34Can you imagine if things were NOT going well down there? We would never hear the end of it ... even MPs expenses might get knocked a bit. The desire of some in Britain to will failure is matched only by the ability of those who really make things happen to do so. I go pass the site every day on the train taking me into town and like you I feel a real burst of optimism as I see the thing taking shape
Ian Eastwood
2009-06-02 09:38:12Hopefully by 2012 Britain like most of the rest of the world should be out of the deep recession we find ourselves in.
The games could quite simply catapult Britain past all our competitors throughout the world. In terms of investment, and exposure on the world stage.
So the timing back in 2003 long before this recession was envisaged, could have been the best one made to see Britain immerge better and stronger than ever.
T.B. was always blessed with good timing. The lucky Sod.
Alan Quinn
2009-06-02 09:31:19Being a Mancunian I'm not that bothered about the cockney games. Quite simply it wouldn't have gone ahead without Manchester's 2002 commonwealth games sucess after the Piclets Lock fiasco and the botched world cup bid.
As usual London gets all the venues with nothing elsewhere besides a football semi final at Old Trafford.. The Chinese held the equestrianisn events in Hong Kong, 1500 km away from Beijing.
A couple of events could have gone north of Watford Gap to show that this is a UK games but this is a London Centric country.
The commemerative plates for the games are to be made in China, would the French have done that? Then we wonder why the BNP do well in the Potteries!
David
2009-06-02 08:53:34Well said. I feel bereft that the party I support is not trumpeting the great success they have had these past few years. GB appears worn out. Cameron is lively but bereft of policies and appears opportunistic. The Labour leadership should pull themselves together.
Susan McMorrow
2009-06-02 08:32:33Like everything - when things are going well we do not hear enough about them - NHS, schools, training etc. I can't wait for the Olympics, the event is going to be fantastic and I am so pleased that Labour had the balls to go for it - great post Alastair.
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