Olympinonsense

[eighthobstruction]

At 1 billion, yes. At £10 billion , no....

East London....Rejuvenate thy self....

[Anna]

So is there ANYONE ? who actually thinks this is worth something ?

I understood the Olympic bid was based upon the benefits of regenerating a deprived area. So, the good point is that East London will have a state of the art stadium/training ground for local people. As to what will happen to the Olympic Village - there have been conflicting reports of how many of the flats and houses will be social (rented) accommodation and how many will be sold. The most uptodate info I found was the Hackney Gazette.

http://hackneycitizen.co.uk/2012/03/11/olympic-village-social-housing-plans-revealed/

As to the employment promised for local people in the construction, I don't know if that materialised in the form of apprenticeships on the building sites as promised. Certainly during the games 4GS won't be employing many locals (!) although I assume outlets such as Macdonalds will. What will happen to the giant 1500 seater Macdonalds afterwards? I think one positive is improvements to local transport like Docklands Railway and a cable car over the Thames? However, I'm not a Londoner and haven't been paying much attention to the infrastructure/local benefits of the games.

I would add I have no interest in the Olympics and as BBC1, 2, and 3 will be games channels I do hope BBC4 will programme some good stuff plus of course there is the Proms to divert the mind. The only thing I will definitely watch is the opening ceremony, I want to see what Danny Boyle has choreographed (unless the Animal Rights people have managed to remove the live cows, chickens, pigs)

[Northender]

It took Montreal 30 years to pay off its Olympic debt. But then, Montreal didn't have Hugh Bonneville to help it get its sums right.

[Anna]

It took Montreal 30 years to pay off its Olympic debt. But then, Montreal didn't have Hugh Bonneville to help it get its sums right.

Well, this is from The Telegraph this morning:

The Home Office initially estimated that 10,000 security staff would be needed for London 2012, but last year that estimate was increased to 23,500. G4S was initially contracted by Locog, the Games organiser, in 2010 to provide 2,000 of the required personnel and be paid £86 million. Last year, its requirement was increased to 10,400 guards, with a requirement to train 3,300 students and 2,500 unpaid volunteers.

Locog then negotiated a new contract with G4S, which is now worth £284 million in total.

Figures seen by The Daily Telegraph show that the firm’s “programme management costs” increased much more sharply than its outlay on staff. The firm’s management fee has risen from £7.3 million to £60 million. Blimey, lucky Seb Coe is footing the bill!!!

[Northender]

Just in case things go totally pear-shaped...are there any Forum members who can run fast enough to keep up with, and preferably catch, His Unbearable Smugness (alias the former MP for Falmouth) should he decide to decamp with any spare cash that's left?

[Serial_Apologist]

The whole recruitments thing appears to be in complete chaos. Yesterday people were shown turning up either to receive their final confirmation or get their uniform. One of the heavies repeatedly asked the BBC why they were filming. One young woman had been registered on two sites, one saying she had been accepted, the other that she should collect her uniform; when she got home the site was telling her she still had to be vetted!! There was another young woman, on today's local (London) lunchtime news on BBC1, saying that she had decided to chuck in her job as one of the helpers. Shown folding up her uniform and packing it off back to G4S, she claimed to have been originally advised in writing she would be doing a 40-hour week for £500 earnings, but that this had been revised to 60 hours for the same money.

And I just hate that sculpture thing that looks like strangulated intestines.

[MrGongGong]

I understood the Olympic bid was based upon the benefits of regenerating a deprived area. So, the good point is that East London will have a state of the art stadium/training ground for local people.

I doubt it will
it will be sold to whoever makes the highest bid

"way to go" indeed

[Anna]

And, from The Guardian today:
Angolan asylum seeker Jimmy Mubenga, who had been in Britain for 16 years and who died while in G4S's custody in 2010. Yet despite its track record, G4S continues to rake in money. Its turnover has almost doubled since 2005 with the percentage of its revenue coming from government contracts rising to 27% in 2011. G4S are not the only outsourcing company which appears to have displayed spectacular incompetence.

More than 50 prisoners have escaped from custody while travelling with Reliance, which provided transport for the Scottish prison service. Its £25m a year contract to provide transport to the Scottish Prison service was transferred to G4S in 2011

Yet despite the evidence that outsourcing and privatisation, far from improving efficiency, actually does the opposite, the coalition still seems hell-bent on reducing the public sector's role. Police privatisation is well under way: in April two-thirds of the civilian staff working for the Lincolnshire police force transferred to ... you've guessed it – G4S.

[mangerton]

And, from The Guardian today:
G4S are not the only outsourcing company which appears to have displayed spectacular incompetence.

No indeed, but the greatest example of spectacular incompetence was when the egregious Blair and Coe got the games in 2005.

You asked about McDonalds. My guess is that there will be so much grease about the premises after the games that all they'll have to do is throw a match down in the general vicinity and it'll go up like an (Olympic) torch.

By the way, I wouldn't be at all surprised if the last two episodes of the BBC's most excellent "Twenty Twelve" are postponed or even cancelled. This week's events have shown that truth and fiction are becoming increasingly hard to tell apart.

[Anna]

By the way, I wouldn't be at all surprised if the last two episodes of the BBC's most excellent "Twenty Twelve" are postponed or even cancelled. This week's events have shown that truth and fiction are becoming increasingly hard to tell apart.

Possibly!!

[handsomefortune]

i hope the last two episodes of 2012 aren't postponed, as guffawing is about the only thing that keeps me sane in times of full on olypinonsense.

btw don't forget to watch the iplayer 'extra info', (scroll down on same page (below) 2012 prog itself). iirc it explains about previous 'hitches' the writer of 2012, john moreton, experienced in making the 'mocumentary'. funnily enough, i kept thinking of 'people like us' when watching '2012'....and it turns out they're both moreton's genius. but apparently being a genius doesn't come without extra 'challenges'. if you should wiki check, and watch the supporting info on iplayer, you'll understand, in full, what it takes to put something (genuinely) authentic on telly these days....although apparently moreton wrote 2012 yonks ago...the fictional narrative ended up being a 'ruff guess' despite 'help' apparently.

not bad for an ex english teacher!


or even cancelled. no. (very odd though, that the series was ever divided up initially)?


This week's events have shown that truth and fiction are becoming increasingly hard to tell apart.

if anything, the 'deliverance' team seem remarkably professional - in comparison with the reality reflected in recent media and news articles!

(not to mention palms) .............so much grease about the premises after the games that all they'll have to do is throw a match down in the general vicinity and it'll go up like an (Olympic) torch. mmmmm sporty

[teamsaint]

1, The torch relay is the tackiest thing in history, including the tour de france.
2. The athletes in the various sports are often drug enhanced.
3. The regeneration of Stratford could EASILY have happened at half the cost a generation ago.
4.the "legacy"is close to worthless, really.
5. Any sports events (and my 40 years following Southampton testify to my misguided love of sport), that needs 27500 assorted security staff and some ground to air missiles is a nonsense.

[Northender]

It's been reported that G4S expect to lose £50 million as a result of failing to fully meet their contractual commitments.

[Anna]

Nick Buckles, Chief Exec of G4S was on this morning's Today programme. For those who missed, it's well worth a listen. Segment starts at 8.32, interview is just over 10 minutes long and ends at 8.45.
Basically, their bill for supplying staff was £280m but their costs will now be £330m as they will be paying for the Army. He said he didn't know until 8 or 9 days ago there was a problem with staffing but it was a mammoth task compressed into such a short time. When asked if it was true that some guards are not fluent in English he waffled and concluded he didn't really know but in certain roles within the security system there is no contact with the general public. Strikes me from the interview that they were trying to hire people as cheaply as possible and at the last minute to minimise costs.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio/player/b01kr71b

[Northender]

Anna - I heard the full interview, and must congratulate you on your brilliant summary - were you good at précis work at school? Anybody who hasn't the time or the inclination to listen to the whole thing will get the full flavour from your posting.