MPs warn against rushing Olympics bid

13 April 2012

The Government must take a clear, hard look at whether they should make a bid for London to host the 2012 Olympic Games, an influential committee of MPs said today.

The committee insist that the Government carry out an independent analysis of the Games' long-term social benefits and costs to the taxpayer.

The prestigious event could bring enormous sporting benefits to Britain and provide an opportunity for regenerating poorer parts of the capital by improving its transport and facilities.

But the gains cannot be taken for granted and a proper rationale must be given for going ahead with a bid, a report from the Culture, Media and Sport Committee said today.

"It would be wrong for the British Olympic Association, the Government and other agencies involved to decide in haste whether or not to bid for the Olympics in 2012 and then to repent at leisure," it warned.

The report states that any assessment "must be clearly focused on a specific analysis on the rationale for London and the UK, and not simply rely on telling good news stories from previous Olympic Games."

One concern is that by earmarking sites for sporting events, it would deny deprived communities of using the land for housing and business developments.

Ken Livingstone, the Mayor for London, has already given his commitment to bring an Olympic Games to east London, although a draft feasibility study by the British Olympic Association which is now on ministers' desks gives full consideration to both west London and east London options.

A London event would not be held on a single site, but the committee points out the importance of identifying potential sites at an early stage. They want to see the Government announce where the bid would be concentrated "well in advance of a decision to bid". They also highlight concern that the capital at present is badly unprepared to make a bid because of the lack of large facilities.

"The near-scandalous absence of international competition-standard swimming facilities in the United Kingdom's capital is one example of how far short London currently falls."

The formal bid for the Olympics does not have to be made until February 2004, but the first deadlines for the process are fast approaching.

The British Olympic Association insist they wish to bid for the Games, but the Government has to give the go-ahead. Any bid should be led by a Government minister "with direct budgetary control and consequent political responsibility and account-ability" they said. "The Government cannot be at arm's length from these processes," they added.

Today's report also considers the proposals for a national athletics stadium at Picketts Lock, near Edmonton in north London. It says there are "vital issues to be resolved relating to transport and infrastructure" at the site, following a decision that the Wembley National Stadium would not be the venue for the 2005 World Athletics Championships. The MPs say that "satisfactory solutions to the problems of underwriting, cost control, risk management, timetable guarantees and long-term viability must be firmly in place before Lottery funding is guaranteed" for the £60m project.

Meanwhile, the race to become the new president of the International Olympic Committee began today with the announcement of the fifth and final candidate, Kim Un-yong.

The South Korean official has made a remarkable recovery since being implicated in the biggest corruption case in the IOC's history, the Salt Lake City scandal.

Kim - who received an official warning for his part in the selection process for the 2002 winter games - completes the five-person field in the contest to succeed Juan Antonio Samaranch, the 80-year-old Spaniard who is stepping down after 21 years.

The other candidates are Canada's Dick Pound, Belgium's Jacques Rogge, American IOC vice-president Anita DeFrantz and Hungary's Pal Schmitt. The election is on 16 July.

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