Government orders 9,000 Olympic tickets for itself

By Jonathan Walker on May 31, 11 09:33 AM in Politics

Have you bid for Olympic tickets? If so, you may be surprised to learn you are competing against Her Majesty's Government, which has requested 9,000 for itself

Of these, 3,000 will be set aside for for civil servants and other officials, who will have the chance to buy tickets from the reserved pool.

Another 6,000 will be available for Ministers and top officials to entertain "international and domestic political and business leaders, dignitaries and others with a close connection to the Games".

It stands to reason that we'll see David Cameron at the games schmoozing foreign leaders, but does the Government really need 6,000 tickets for hospitality? And who are these business leaders, exactly?

Black Country MP Ian Austin (Lab Dudley North) learned about the stash when he asked questions in Parliament, and has now submitted more queries designed to reveal more.

Mr Austin said: "This should be the people's games, so why should ordinary families in the West Midlands have less chance of securing tickets than government officials?

"As far as the tickets for entertainment are concerned, I will be asking more questions to discover exactly how they are being allocated and at what cost."