Let's be honest - the Olympics are the London games

By Jonathan Walker on Dec 4, 08 05:32 PM in Politics

News that Ministers were warned back in 2002 that the Olympics wouldn't raise huge sums of money for the nation reminded me of a slightly bad-tempered interview I conducted with the Culture Secretary earlier this year.

I asked Andy Burnham why the Government didn't come clean and admit that the financial benefits would go almost entirely to London, with regions such as the West Midlands fighting over any scraps left over.

It was a fairly blunt question and his reply was equally robust.

He told me: "The games have an incredible ability to lift people.

"Certainly, anybody under the age of 25 doesn't feel at all cynical about the Olympics coming to this country, and I think the older people need to remember that and not sour it with cynicism."

The cynical, old person he had in mind was clearly yours truly, but no complaints - he was giving as good as he got.

But no apologies, either. Apparently, the 250-page document, commissioned by the Government and presented to Tony Blair, concluded the Olympics would be a "national celebration", and not an economic opportunity.

In fact, the Olympics will benefit London's economy, as some of the ÃÂ£9 billion cost will be spent regenerating the East End. It just won't do so much for the rest of us, even if we get to play host to visiting foreign Olympic teams (Birmingham may host a training camp for the US track and field squad).

I'm not one of those people who resents London doing well. When the capital is successful, it does benefit the rest of us - and Birmingham is close enough to London to get more benefit from it than the big northern cities.

I wouldn't even object, when the economy was strong at least, to spending taxpayers' money on a national "feel-good" event. As Mr Burnham said, lots of people are very enthusiastic about the games.

But I still feel the games were sold to us as something they're not.

Birmingham MP Sion Simon (Lab Erdington) has been outspoken in campaigning for the regions somehow to get a fairer share of the cash being poured into the Olympics.

He's been silenced now, after joining the Government as a skills minister. Maybe someone else will take up the baton?