The Olympic Bid - Blair explains what it was really about - having an alibi at the scene of the crime, winning with the help of his friend Silvio, manipulation British style and avoiding humiliation at the hands of the French!

THE government was rightly lambasted last week by a parliamentary committee for its mismanagement of the 2012 London Olympic finances since winning the games in July 2005. But the Eye has discovered that even as the crowds were erupting in Trafalgar Square two summers ago, the government knew the real costs bore no relation to those set out earlier that day in Lord Coe's decisive presentation to the International Olympic Committee.