Letters to my sons.

BBC NEWS | Politics | Cost of 2012 Olympics ‘up £900m’

Dear Son,

when London won the Olympics I was excited at the idea of a huge sporting event taking place on our doorstep. At the same time I was sure the money could be better spent on housing and health care.

The cost’s for the event have just gone up by £900 million pounds, £400 million of that is to pay the “delivery partner” to make sure the thing comes in on time and on budget.

Well it can’t now come in on budget because they have blown £400 million on their “delivery partner”.

The political fall out is as silly as ever. The Liberal Democrats are saying that the government should fit the bill for the over spend. Governments don’t have any money of their own – only what they can thieve from the general public. If they were sugesting that the people who got the sums wrong should cough up – that would be a good idea. The government is thinking of charging Londerners an extra £20 a year for the next 25 years to cover the shortfall. I see the reason for making Londerners pay – the benefits to the North of Scotland form the influx of money that the games are supposed to generate won’t be felt there.
What amazes me is that governments can never get an estimate correct for a piece of work. Why don’t they simply double any quote they recieve and publish this number as the amount the project they are working on will cost? That way everything should come in under budget.

More price hikes are expected as “security” needs beefing up from the original estimate.

My head has taken over and I now think that the games will be a big waste of money – not just because Londoners will be paying extra as London has some of the poorest people in the country – but because London needs more homes and money spending on schools. Not a big stadium and some parking.