A Nice Little Earner

As I have often said, the Olympics is not about sport but about money. This point is again illustrated by the publication of the amounts being paid to consultants for the London 2012 Olympis.

These "highly useful" companies/individuals will receive £60M (over £1M per week) for their "services" to the London Games.

Olympics Minister, Tessa Jowell, came clean in a parliamentary written answer that consultants are to receive more than £60M. Funny how shy the government is when it comes to talking about the cost of the Games, yet they are always so keen to make a song and dance and grab the publicity about the Games when it makes them look good.

Jowell's answer admitted that Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) spent £50.49M in 2006-2007 and between April and July this year spent a further £10.7M.

A large amount of this government largess (using the taxpayers' money) went to five consultancy companies; Atkins, EDAW Ltd, Ernst and Young, Ove Arup & Partners Ltd and Rockpools.

Needless to say, given that the Olympics budget is out of control (£12BN and rising), this revelation could not have come at a more embarrassing time for our "respected" lords and masters.

To add further fuel to the fires, it should be noted that it is not just the consultancy companies that are making a nice living out of the taxpayers. London organising committee chief executive Paul Deighton was paid £536K, even Princess Anne is in on the act receiving £4K for attending up to four board meetings.

There is also another problem for the hapless Jowell, in July she told MPs that the Department for Culture Media nd Sport (DCMS) were employing no consultants in the current financial year and had hired only two in 2006-2007.

Yet the above revelations prove that the answer she gave in July was...errrmmm...wrong!

Seemingly Jowell won't quite admit to lying, instead she has opted for the politician's fail safe by revising the "facts"; hoping that no one will notice.

Quote:

"In my previous answer to the honourable member for Faversham and Mid-Kent on July 9, I stated that the Department for Culture, Media and Sport had not employed consultancy firms to work on the 2012 Olympic Games and Paralympic Games in the current financial year and that two consultancy firms were employed in 2006-07.

However, it has since come to light that during 2006-07 a total of six consultancy firms were employed by DCMS on Olympic-related business. One of these firms continued to work on Olympic-related business in 2007-08 and a further four consultancy contracts had also, as of July 9, been entered into during 2007-08.

The cost of consultancy firms employed by the Olympic Delivery Authority in 2006-07 was £50,494,000 and in 2007-08 (as of July 9) was £10,753,000.

These costs reflect the process of establishing the ODA and building up organisational capacity while ensuring key delivery milestones are achieved."

How blithely she alters the "facts" of her original answer, without so much as an apology or an admission of error.

Is this woman fit for office?

-The budget is out of control
-She has either lied, or else she is massively incompetent

The clear answer is that she is not fit for office, and should be removed with due haste.

Never allow politicians to run long term projects, they have neither the training nor the integrity to do so.