Tessa 'Watch me keep a straight face' Jowell finally gave in and announced that yes, the 2012 Olympics will cost in excess of £9 billion. Thats a lot of zeros. Can't we just buy everyone a copy of Escape to Victory instead? Everyone's a winner in that except the Nazis.
Central government will pay 4.93 billion pounds - in addition to 1 billion pounds already committed - to pay for the games and regeneration of the surrounding area. Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell told MPs the rest of the money will come from the national lottery and London taxpayers.
Here's Jon Snow with the watercooler talk from the Ch4 newsroom:
the Olympics ARE going to take more money from the lottery - mainly arts funding and things like nursery schools. And there's a massive contingency of £2.7 billion. As someone here in the office said, if you have builders in you certainly don't tell them that there's a £2.7 billion contingency fund. It'll put the costs up right away
Or to put it another way; this is fucking madness.
Tessa Jowell, the Olympics minister, accused opposition parties of not supporting the games and indulging in Victor Meldrew-style pessimism, and of "voting for Paris" as they criticised the size of the revised budget. "We should see this as an investment not a cost," she told the Guardian. "It is a toxic, difficult, contaminated site in the East End of London. It is a fantastic thing - we have the Olympics pouring in millions of pounds into this area."
1. It's a bit much comparing those who criticise you to a sitcom cunt, only to then sound off like Alf Garnett by accusing the same critics of voting for foreigners.
2. It's been a toxic, contaminated site for ages, but it's only now being looked at because of the Olympics. It's a disgrace that if the games had gone to Paris we'd be obliged to keep ignoring the very same wasteland that is now so bloody important.
3. You can shove the Olympics up your arse.
