The Olympics Stealth Tax

Now that the dust has settled on the bid triumph for London hosting the 2012 Olympics, financial reality is beginning to crystalise in the minds of the British.

Taking a lesson from the Greeks, who ended up paying $12Bn for their loss making Games, some British people are beginning to worry about the cost of the Games.

Jacqui Lait, the shadow minister for London, said that the Games could be used to introduce a "stealth tax" on London.

The Olympics are supposed to cost Londoners around 38p a week, but the Conservatives say that the draft legislation contains no provision for a supplementary rate earmarked specifically for the event; the money will instead be raised as part of the overall council tax precept, which is added on to residents' overall council tax bill.

In other words taxes will be raised on the pretext of financing the Games, but the money raised will in fact be used elsewhere.

Ms Lait said:

"The Olympics are a great opportunity to showcase the best that London and Britain have to offer. But amid all the Olympic excitement, we have a duty to ensure that Londoners are not being forced to write a blank cheque to Ken Livingstone or his successors. Conservatives have grave concerns over the extra levy planned for London council tax bills.

Any Olympics levy must be transparent, ringfenced and time limited. Given the Labour government's past poor project management of large public sector projects, such as the dome, we must ensure measures are put in place."

Ken Livingstone's office rebutted the claims, saying that the tax increase would be nominal and would end as soon as the event was over.

A spokesman said:

"There will not be cost overruns from the games. We are confident that our public funding package will be sufficient, and our financial planning has been meticulous - a point recognised by the IOC [International Olympic Committee] evaluation commission.

The funding package agreed with government means that the average London household will pay 38p per week for up to 12 years."

I don't believe that for one minute.

Oswald Named Chairman of Co-ordination Commission

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has announced that Denis Oswald will be appointed as chairman of its Coordination Commission, for the 2012 Olympics in London.

Oswald will lead a team of 15, who are tasked with aiding the London Olympics Organising Committee in the years leading up to the event.

He is a former Olympic rowing medallist and has been member of the IOC since 1991. He is also a member of the IOC Executive Board, and president of the International Rowing Federation.

IOC President Jacques Rogge said:

"Denis Oswald is the ideal person to lead the IOCs partnership with London during the preparations for the 2012 Olympic Games. Denis brings a unique combination of skills and experience, as a medal-winning, three-time Olympic athlete and a sports leader with nearly 30 years of experience organising international competitions of the highest level."

Adding:

"With the success of Athens 2004, Denis has already demonstrated his ability to help lead the delivery of excellent Olympic Games while under great pressure, bringing partners together and resolving a wide range of difficult issues."

Oswald said:

"It is a great honour for me to be given this opportunity to serve the Olympic Movement once again as Coordination Commission Chairman. I am confident that London has all the ingredients for success: from a technically-sound plan to widespread popular support.

Preparing for the Games requires a team effort: the group named today as Coordination Commission can be expected to make a significant contribution to that effort, on behalf of the IOC."

The Coordination Commission executive will make visit London tomorrow, with further visits expected before the end of 2005.

Atlanta Bomber Apologises

Convicted serial bomber, Eric Rudolph, apologised yesterday to the victims of the bomb that he exploded at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta.

"I sincerely hoped to achieve my objectives without harming innocent civilians"

He was then awarded 4 life sentences for the bombing, at a federal court in Atlanta.

The explosion killed one woman and injured more than 100 others.

Despite the last minute attempt at apologising, Rudolph insisted that he was right to wage his own personal war against abortion clinics and the U.S. government that he said protected them.

Sounds like he is not at all sorry.

£3BN Olympic Shortfall

Projections indicate that far from being a revenue earner for Britain, the costs of hosting the 2102 Olympics will outweigh revenues by approximately £3BN.

It is estimated that Britain's gross domestic product will rise by £1.9BN against a projected cost to the taxpayer of £4.9BN, according to confidential figures presented to the government.

Needless to say the government is trying to "rubbish" the figures, because they don't tie in with the positive image that they have been presenting in the media about the Olympics.

Culture department officials won't comment on the identity of the consultants who prepared the report. However, one insider let slip that the government has quite a challenge on their hands:

"We hope that we can maximise the economic and business gain by getting things set up properly. We recognise that we don't possess all the relevant expertise within government. We have to face up to the fact that this is a project of incredible size and complexity and there's real expertise in the private sector to ensure we deliver the Games on time and on budget".

As we all know, governments are the last organisations on earth that should be entrusted with running complex long term projects.