DISASTER : London gets 2012 Olympics.
Bribery. That's the only possibility, because nobody who's ever been to London or who lives there would ever be under the misconception that London could host the Olympics.
For starters, neither airport has the capacity or capability to deal with that sort of influx of people. To go on, the transport infrastructure is on its knees already - just with everyday Londoners the trains and buses are over capacity and nothing ever runs on time. It's taken 15 years of arguing to get the cross-London link approved, and almost as long to sort out the Channel Tunnel link. Do the IOC really believe that within 7 years, London can sort out its transport crisis?
What about facilites? There are none. It's all very well claiming 'regeneration of the East End' will solve it, but where's the money going to come from? The damn politicos keep saying it's going to be of benefit to the whole country, then let the whole country pay for it! London already funds the rest of the country to the tune of £20 billion in taxes (the difference between tax paid in London and money spent on London).
Where will the facilities be built? Bulldozing people out of their homes is my guess. The city is gasping, financially - the burden of trying to host the Olympics is going to finish it off.
What about security? Lets not forget that London is a favourite IRA target and not once have the police been able to stop an IRA bomb from going off - what leads the IOC to believe it will be any different in 7 years time? London Police are simply incapable of stopping any major incident or act of terrorism.
This news is also very unfortunate for everyone in the rest of Greater London where there's no planned Olympic activity - all the focus and attention will be lavished on the bid areas for years to come. Everyone else will be ignored, but you can bet all their taxes will skyrocket to pay for this mistake.
It's amazing to see how many people are celebrating this news. They've clearly not thought this through. I bet all the people in Trafalgar square this morning have no idea that their daily lives are going to become an absolute misery the closer it gets to 2012. Everything will get disrupted from simple chores like the weekly shop up to the commute to work. Boroughs will be bulldozed for new facilites. Roads will be closed, security cordons will go up. Local people's ability to do what they want will be curtailed, and taxes will absolutely go up. Anyone who thinks their taxes will stay the same and that the intrusion of the Olympics into their city will be a minor hinderance is going to be sorely disappointed.
London is a polluted, congested, miserable third-world city. How they ever hope to stage the Olympics is a total mystery to me. It should of course have gone to Paris where they already have the facilities and already have a working transport infrastructure.
New York and Paris are celebrating tonight - they don't have to live with the spectre of being bankrupted by the 2012 Olympics any more. London on the other hand has set itself up to fail.
I wonder : isn't it time that Blair and his cronies concentrated on the basics instead? Cleaner hospitals, acceptable class sizes, good quality affordable public transport? They are very keen to get involved in the international issues but domestic problems are as usual being neglected.
For starters, neither airport has the capacity or capability to deal with that sort of influx of people. To go on, the transport infrastructure is on its knees already - just with everyday Londoners the trains and buses are over capacity and nothing ever runs on time. It's taken 15 years of arguing to get the cross-London link approved, and almost as long to sort out the Channel Tunnel link. Do the IOC really believe that within 7 years, London can sort out its transport crisis?
What about facilites? There are none. It's all very well claiming 'regeneration of the East End' will solve it, but where's the money going to come from? The damn politicos keep saying it's going to be of benefit to the whole country, then let the whole country pay for it! London already funds the rest of the country to the tune of £20 billion in taxes (the difference between tax paid in London and money spent on London).
Where will the facilities be built? Bulldozing people out of their homes is my guess. The city is gasping, financially - the burden of trying to host the Olympics is going to finish it off.
What about security? Lets not forget that London is a favourite IRA target and not once have the police been able to stop an IRA bomb from going off - what leads the IOC to believe it will be any different in 7 years time? London Police are simply incapable of stopping any major incident or act of terrorism.
This news is also very unfortunate for everyone in the rest of Greater London where there's no planned Olympic activity - all the focus and attention will be lavished on the bid areas for years to come. Everyone else will be ignored, but you can bet all their taxes will skyrocket to pay for this mistake.
It's amazing to see how many people are celebrating this news. They've clearly not thought this through. I bet all the people in Trafalgar square this morning have no idea that their daily lives are going to become an absolute misery the closer it gets to 2012. Everything will get disrupted from simple chores like the weekly shop up to the commute to work. Boroughs will be bulldozed for new facilites. Roads will be closed, security cordons will go up. Local people's ability to do what they want will be curtailed, and taxes will absolutely go up. Anyone who thinks their taxes will stay the same and that the intrusion of the Olympics into their city will be a minor hinderance is going to be sorely disappointed.
London is a polluted, congested, miserable third-world city. How they ever hope to stage the Olympics is a total mystery to me. It should of course have gone to Paris where they already have the facilities and already have a working transport infrastructure.
New York and Paris are celebrating tonight - they don't have to live with the spectre of being bankrupted by the 2012 Olympics any more. London on the other hand has set itself up to fail.
I wonder : isn't it time that Blair and his cronies concentrated on the basics instead? Cleaner hospitals, acceptable class sizes, good quality affordable public transport? They are very keen to get involved in the international issues but domestic problems are as usual being neglected.
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