London Olympic torch parade

[GJH]

Setting aside the argument over Tibet, is it good value for money for the government to spend £1 million (source Sunday Times) on the parade today?

 

Graham

[howie]

£1 million sounds quite resonable Graham, but after hearing of the billions these games will eventually cost this may well come down to how our minds have been conditioned over the last year or two.

Present thinking insists that any Olympic Games must outdo the previous one in terms of facilities and presentation with costing to match, so it follows that the 'torch parade' must show the world that when it comes to spending money on a grand scale then we are up there with the best of them regardless of whether we can afford it or not in terms of other 'worthy causes'.

I,ve always been a fan of big sporting occasions but i,m not sure if the costs can be justified, and at the moment you can put me down in the 'not sure/don,t know' category.

[Thai Bry]

GJH - 2008-04-06 10:43 AM Setting aside the argument over Tibet, is it good value for money for the government to spend £1 million (source Sunday Times) on the parade today? Graham

Hi Graham - long time no speak, as I'm just joining in on certain threads only.

To me it's NOT money well spent, but more like - "IT has to be spent" as we are hosting the 2012 games, so therefore we must be seen to be joining in with the "Olympic" ideal / "Olympic" fraternity.!!!

Thai

[GJH]

Thai Bry - 2008-04-06 2:46 PM

Hi Graham - long time no speak, as I'm just joining in on certain threads only.

Just choosing the superior ones is it Thai? (lol)

Thai Bry - 2008-04-06 2:46 PM

To me it's NOT money well spent, but more like - "IT has to be spent" as we are hosting the 2012 games, so therefore we must be seen to be joining in with the "Olympic" ideal / "Olympic" fraternity.!!!

howie - 2008-04-06 11:49 AMPresent thinking insists that any Olympic Games must outdo the previous one in terms of facilities and presentation with costing to match, so it follows that the 'torch parade' must show the world that when it comes to spending money on a grand scale then we are up there with the best of them regardless of whether we can afford it or not in terms of other 'worthy causes'.

Interesting points. I deliberately asked without giving my own opinion initially.Seems to me that it's we (as in Britain) when it comes to spending but London when it comes to benefits. The BBC Inside Out programme (version broadcast in the north east anyway) came to that conclusion as well - little if any benefit outside of the south east of the country and could well be lasting damage to grass roots sport, the arts and heritage projects because of the diversion of funding.I'm beginning to think more and more that the "Olympic ideal" is a con put about by those who benefit from the games. I didn't realise until this week that the idea of carrying a torch from Greece to the games venue was thought up by that all round good egg and sporting here, Adolf Hitler. I'm sure we're all agreed that his ideals are not something to follow.Graham

[J9withdogs]

It would be much better to bring the Olympics back to its modern-day home of Much Wenlock, some 5 miles from Bridgnorth

 

http://www.wenlock-olympian-society.org.uk/

[Tomo3090]

9 BILLION PLUS POUNDS FOR P.E.!

 

Please tell me someone else thinks the whole idea is mad. Charities, lots of other sports, the arts and many deserving causes are having their lottery funding budgets cut just so people can run round, jump over things, swim, ride bikes and throw heavy weights, it can't be right surely?

 

And when the whole jamboree is over the land and developments will be handed over to developers and private investors, who are no doubt mates of the people pushing for the "games" in the first place, to make even more money from charging people to use facilities built from the above charity budgets.

 

Cancel it now and let someone else have the problems.

 

p.s. I'll bet any money the 9 billion is not the last "final price" we hear about before 2012.

 

>:-(

[howie]

I agree, but lets try and take some positives out of this. Apart from bringing attention to the Tibet/China problem we will at least see regeneration of an area which is long overdue. Thousands of medium/long term jobs will be created in the construction, leisure and housing sections with many of the sporting facilities remaining to benifit future generations.

Of course much of this funding will end up in private accounts, and no doubt the politicians will have a field day boosting their importance and ego,s, but nothing new there.

Not 100% sure we can afford it, and I do have my reservations, but we,ve signed on the dotted line so lets go for it.

[Wingpete]

When the Health & Safety Regulators see what happens in Beijing, I think they will have a hay day here, banning most events as being potentially hazardous to participants and spectators.

Not enough preparation in schools and places of education to prepare us for such speeds, exertions, surprises, sorrows (at losing ) death defying feats of endurance like marathons and jumping off a high board into 2 inches of water (we will have a drought again by then ), swimming without lifejackets, footballing on hard grass, (where the germs breed) shocks that will ensure counselling is the most populous activity of them all.

And smilling Ken will be there to take the place of the Queen at the opening. Did you see him hogging the stage yesterday ?

BAH, HUMBUG. Anyone need a room for the duration whilst I go aborad with motorhome ? Sorry duplicated. :$

[Wingpete]

When the Health & Safety Regulators see what happens in Beijing, I think they will have a hay day here, banning most events as being potentially hazardous to participants and spectators.

Not enough preparation in schools and places of education to prepare us for such speeds, exertions, surprises, sorrows (at losing ) death defying feats of endurance like marathons and jumping off a high board into 2 inches of water (we will have a drought again by then ), swimming without lifejackets, footballing on hard grass, (where the germs breed) shocks that will ensure counselling is the most populous activity of them all.

And smilling Ken will be there to take the place of the Queen at the opening. Did you see him hogging the stage yesterday ?

BAH, HUMBUG. Anyone need a room for the duration whilst I go aborad with motorhome ?

[GJH]

howie - 2008-04-06 11:42 PM

Thousands of medium/long term jobs will be created in the construction, leisure and housing sections with many of the sporting facilities remaining to benifit future generations.

I have reservations about this.

 

A friend of mine is an electrician who has worked on large contracts for most of his career. For several years now he has worked in the London area - e.g. Heathrow and the various transport systems.

 

He tells me that a large proportion of the workforce is immigrant labour on relatively low wages. Nothing wrong with that in principle but it doesn't do as much as it might for domestic employment.

 

However, what worries me is safety, especially long term safety of buildings and other facilities. One story I recall especially is of two workers from different eastern European countries who could communicate with each other in Russian but had no adequate understanding of English. This necessitates closer supervision and inspection of their work - and if resources are scarce near the end of the project I fear that corners could be cut.

 

howie - 2008-04-06 11:42 PM

we will at least see regeneration of an area which is long overdue.

Plenty of regeneration work required in the north east and, I'm sure, other areas of the country but that is likely to suffer because of current funding and as yet unquantified extra funding which will be required.

 

Take the state of the London railways. When we were there in January I was waiting for someone at one of the mainline/underground stations and overheard two people doing a visual inspection of electrical installations on the concourse - part of the programme to upgrade the infrastructure to cope with demands to run extra trains. From their conversation it was obvious that there were no up to date wiring diagrams. The implication is that costs could spiral, leading to demands for more funding from general taxation and the lottery and consequent detrimental effects on the rest of the country.

 

Graham

[howie]

Miserable bunch of killjoys, and organising a knees up down the local with you lot would have me reaching for the Samaritans help line in no time. At least the 'journey of harmony and peace' went of without any trouble, and i,m sure the few protests there will have the Chinese government carrying out a urgent review of their foriegn policies. Bit like knocking down the Great Wall with a plastic knife and fork, but I suppose you have to start somewhere.

I,ve already said that I agree with many of the previous comments re. the downsides of staging these games. The money we would save by not holding them here reminds me of all the money I should have saved when I quit smoking all those years ago. Nothing to show on my bank balance, and like this £9 billion + will only be frittered away on other worthy/cockeyed schemes.

We give the impression of a nation in decline. Doom and gloom is the order of the day and lacking the confidence to even put on a good show anymore. Only bright spot on the horizon is the proposed introduction of 'synchronised sh*gging' at the 1212 games, so if any of you feel you can go through the motions wearing only a big smile and a peg on your nose then let me know and we,ll try and raise a team from this forum.

 

 

[avongas]

howie - 2008-04-07 11:30 AM

 

Miserable bunch of killjoys, and organising a knees up down the local with you lot would have me reaching for the Samaritans help line in no time. At least the 'journey of harmony and peace' went of without any trouble, and i,m sure the few protests there will have the Chinese government carrying out a urgent review of their foriegn policies. Bit like knocking down the Great Wall with a plastic knife and fork, but I suppose you have to start somewhere.

I,ve already said that I agree with many of the previous comments re. the downsides of staging these games. The money we would save by not holding them here reminds me of all the money I should have saved when I quit smoking all those years ago. Nothing to show on my bank balance, and like this £9 billion + will only be frittered away on other worthy/cockeyed schemes.

We give the impression of a nation in decline. Doom and gloom is the order of the day and lacking the confidence to even put on a good show anymore. Only bright spot on the horizon is the proposed introduction of 'synchronised sh*gging' at the 1212 games, so if any of you feel you can go through the motions wearing only a big smile and a peg on your nose then let me know and we,ll try and raise a team from this forum.

 

 

I'm up for that Howie - all I've got to do is persuade 'er indoors to let me go! Also, arrange baby sitters for 3000 cones on the M4 8-)