What lasting benefits does "winning" the 2012 Olympic Games Bid bring London, over and above what was already promised, "win" or "lose", during the Bid process ?
Cross Rail, which it is acknowledged cannot be completed by the 2012 deadline is happening anyway. So is the Stratford Channel Tunnel link infrastructure.
The aquatic centre, the veldrome and the hockey pitches are being built and financed sepaaretly anyway, according to this recent Parliamentary Written Answer
What is the long term benefit to London and the rest of the country ?
The planned level of profits for the Games is only £'100 million on an investment of over £4 billion (more if the extra security costs are actually accounted for properely). As can be seen right now with Wembly Stadium, £100 million can easily be lost due to the construction problems alone.
The legacy white elephant Olympic Stadium scheme has a peculiar plan to dismantle 20,000 seats after the event, and dump them on some other, as yet unnamed local authority to create a mini-white elephant stadium somewhere else, neither of which will have a steady revenue stream afterwards, as they will not be ideal for football or concerts or any other uses.
There are far cheaper and easier ways to create a 4,000 unit housing estate than as a "legacy" of the athletes' Olympic Village.
Most of the money generated by ticket sales and intrusive, monopolistic commercial sponsorship and advertising will not end up in the London or UK economies at all, it will go to the International Olympic Committee, and the international telecommunications and TV networks who will broadcast the event worldwide.
Similar promises about "regeneration" and "long term local jobs" were made for the Millennium Dome in Greenwich, but they have failed to materilalise.
The International Olympic Committee is not particularly concerned with legacy issues or costs on the host cities. Understandably they have their own sporting agenda and international city planning is not their job or responsibility. They are careful to wash their hands of any financial risks or losses by the host cities or governments.
The forthcoming Olympics Bill, will codify the Chancellor's promise of a massive tax subsidy to the International Olympic Committee, so their profits and expenses will not be liable for UK tax ! Any cost overruns will be financed by the UK Treasury, who will then claw the money back from the London Council Tax payers and the National Lottery.
So where is the long term benefit of "winning" the "right" to stage the 2012 Olympic Games, over and above the benefits already promised during the "win or lose" Bid process itself ?
