Games Monitor - Politics

More ‘Anecdotal’ Complaints of Noise and Dust from Leabank Square Residents

Julian Cheyne — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 01:43:59 +0100

Washing day at Leabank Square

Cultural Olympiad or Olympics Cull?

Steve Dowding — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 12:02:25 +0100

According to the BBC:

2012 Blog**ng Lies and Censorship

Julian Cheyne — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 23:45:52 +0100

It’s not only the Chinese who censor comment! The following 'terminological inexactitudes' appeared on the London 2012 Blog from David Higgins, Chief Executive of the ODA, as the London Olympics tries to purloin every development in the vicinity of the Olympic park for the ‘Legacy’. Not only do we have a post-Games legacy but now a pre-Games legacy! Stratford City, Stratford 2011, Newham Council Major Opportunity Zone 1 (as in Newham's Unitary Development Plan) or whatever it's called is now just another example of the catalytic effect of the Games, even though it was approved before the Bid was won, was designed to stand alone if the Olympics did not come to London and had been Newham's pet project for the previous decade. The Mayor of Newham was so protective of this scheme that at one point he put out a press release accusing London 2012 of endangering its survival.

Leaked IOC Beijing Media Kit

Charles Batsworth — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 12:59:01 +0100

German public service broadcaster Südwestrundfunk recently obtained this 48-page IOC media kit for Beijing 2008 (or 'One-Year-to-Go Countdown Resource'). Marked CONFIDENTIAL – FOR INTERNAL USE ONLY, it offers an intriguing insight into the way the IOC views itself and its relations with the media, governments and NGOs and protest groups.

Locals in Sochi Fight Off Olympics

Martin Slavin — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 13:48:33 +0100

.: © Vasily Shaposhnikov

Residents of Imeret lowland, which has been chosen to as a construction site for the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics, clashed with bailiffs and police yesterday, July 22, 2008. Armed with sticks and bottles of incendiary mixture, 200 locals defended their houses.

Hackney Wick residents complain about noise and dust from the Olympic Park

Julian Cheyne — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 02:09:56 +0100

Residents in Hackney Wick have protested at the dust and noise being produced from the Olympic Park. The statement reproduced below was sent on Sunday 6th July to Boris Johnson, the Mayor of London, David Higgins, Chief Executive of the ODA and Sebastian Coe, along with other relevant officials and representatives, by Sona Abantu-Choudhury on behalf of the Leabank Square Residents Association about the disturbance being caused by work on the Olympic site.

Why Bush will stand with Hu Jintao at the opening of the Beijing Olympics

Martin Slavin — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 11:34:18 +0100

China's government, which invests up to a third of its $1.68 trillion in currency reserves in [US] Treasuries, is "not smart'' to invest in U.S. debt and should seek higher returns, a former legislator said [June 13 2008]. "I don't think it's a smart move to invest in U.S. bonds,'' said Cheng Siwei, former vice chairman of the National People's Congress, China's legislature, at a Beijing conference.

Perjured evidence before a House of Commons Select Committee.

Julian Cheyne — Wed, 28 May 2008 02:04:58 +0100

It is said History is written by the winners. Committees from both the House of Commons and the Greater London Assembly Committees have held hearings into the Olympics. Apparently subjects are chosen on the basis of who makes the most noise. Amongst the topics discussed by the relevant House of Commons Select Committee has been the relocation of communities, be they residents, allotment holders, businesses or users, from the Olympic Park. The rule of subject choice also seems to apply when it comes to dishing out invitations to give ‘evidence’. Most people are left out of the magic circle and are unaware the opportunity might even exist. Not so those who run these programmes. They get to give their version of events as they either they get asked along or are warned the committee will be meeting and ask to go. It doesn’t seem to have occurred to either set of committees to track down those who were actually moved to ask them how they felt about their eviction and how it was handled.

Contaminated Dust at the Eastway, the HSE responds and the ODA upgrades its monitoring

Julian Cheyne — Mon, 12 May 2008 01:42:38 +0100

Further to my earlier article about contamination at the former Eastway cycle track the HSE responded after nine weeks (see email below). I remain astonished that it took nine weeks for the HSE to be able to summarise the monitoring being undertaken at the Eastway site. I would have thought the information would be readily to hand but apparently not.

Olympics Ministry being economical with the truth again

Martin Slavin — Sat, 26 Apr 2008 10:13:40 +0100

Conclusions and Recommendations of the House of Commons Public Accounts Select Committee Report 22 April 2008

Foreseeable requirements for public sector funding were excluded from the estimates at the time of the bid to host the Games, giving an unrealistic picture of the expected costs. Contrary to good practice, the Department [of Culture Media and Sport] did not include programme contingency, now £2.7 billion, because the scale and complexity of the undertaking were not appreciated at the time of the bid. The costs of tax and security, now estimated at over £1.4 billion, were also excluded from the estimates as they were uncertain. Yet £738 million of funding from the private sector was included, despite not being supported by robust analysis. All costs and revenues should have been included from the outset, with the uncertainties explained and a contingency provided.

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