to think we should cancel the Olympics?

[StuckInTheMiddleWithYou]

As opposed to various benefits?

What's more important? People in lycra running in circles or keeping people out of poverty?

How much is it going to cost, anyone know?

I don't think we should have bid on it in the first place.

£9.3 billion as of June 2008.

it's bound to go way over budget so I would cancel it, but suspect most of the money has already been spent..

And no YANBU, we should never have bid for it, fucking disgraceful waste of money IMO.

it's a bit like the Edinburgh ( where I live) tram project that is currently at £550m, still not done, and will continue to go way,way over budget.

I'm worried they are going to make a complete hash of it.

Agree completely. At least it'll be something on TV for us to watch when we cant afford to do bugger all else.

£9.3billion in spend ... but how many people are employed directly/indirectly by it. And how much does that equate to in (a) savings in not having to pay benefits to those people and (b) tax revenues that they generate through income tax, corporation tax and VAT? How many companies would go under if they didn't have the Olympics to see them through?

Not saying I agree with it (not sure we should ever have bid for it), but it's not quite as simple as saying it is £9.3bn total outlay.

Good point wishingchair.

It does seem a bit grotesque given the current climate though.

I thought olympics actually brought more money into the country than it cost??

YANBU

YABU

Not sure. I presume that the Olympics will bring money into the country, and that it is great advertising for the tourism board.

Sometimes great cultural or sport events cannot be measured in terms of profit.

The WM2004 in Germany brought an amazing feeling of euphoria to the country. It was incredibly exciting and was felt by the guests from all over the world.

I'm with MmeLindt - just couldn't be bothered to explain

I think the Millennium Dome was a huge waste of money, the Olympics are too, taking part in Eurovision (if that costs anything, presumably it does) is, and any countries who spend billions on sending probes into space are throwing money away as well. But I think I'm probably in a minority there, I usually get shouted done for saying that.

Bread and Roses....no point feeding your belly while you starve your soul.

Always seems such a waste to have to build facilities in new places everytime

I can see why a lot of people would think this. But YABU. The Olympics will generate huge amounts of revenue for British business. The tourism sector alone is expected to receive a 25% upsurge in 2012 which equates to about £2bn.

There is already over 10,000 UK businesses engaged with the delivery of the Olympics itself in some way and set to benefit financially from it. The Olympic Committee is actively sourcing as much of its needed services from SMEs which will deliver a huge boost to UK business.

The massive regeneration and development of the Thames Gateway area will boost property and land prices - much of which the government will sell after the Games, directly benefiting the public purse.

Quite apart from the fact that hosting the Olympics is a great honour of which we should be proud, it could be just the sort of kick start our economy needs.

I'm in 2 minds about it. They seem to be building new facilities unnecessarily especially for it when existing facilities (for certain sports at least) would be perfectly satisfactory. Oh well, I guess we'll see whether it just drains the overstretched public purse or actually ends up being a good thing for the country.

yanbu, I've not supported it from the start. It was a stupid thing to take on. People have been evicted from their homes!
And they're talking about demolishing the stadium afterwards as it won't be much use to us.

I'm going to go with the minority here and say that yes YABU.

Despite costing £9.3bn the vast majority of that does not go into the games itself, but will be used to build and regenerate a severely disadvantaged area of the country.

Within a year of the olympics being over the area will be benefiting from new housing and flats, a new swimming pool and fitness centre for the area, new outdoor athletics and team sports facilities for use by the local people and schools, a stadium which is likely to be sold either to a football team or concert organisers and a couple of stadiums which will be moved and re-built in other areas of the country to provide sporting facilities to other disadvantaged communities.

Beyond that, the whole of the surrounding area is benefiting from improved transport links, a conservation area developed by removing a lot of pollution and litter and maintaining the canal system. The games will also be very friendly to the environment.

This is all in one of the most deprived areas in the country, where unemployment and poverty has been a serious issue compounded by the sheer density of the population.

There are a host of other things I would like to see removed/ cut/ stopped before the olympics. For example - councils spending money on surveillance to catch people who over stuff their bins, who don't recycle properly, or who apply to schools out of their catchment area, or maybe the enormous sums spent on needlessly collecting vast amounts of 'data and reporting' adding buerocracy to an already cramped system.

I kind of agree with you on the benefits point though. I would never want to see money taken away from people who don't need it. The problem is that there are numerous examples of people cheating the system, taking what they aren't entitled to, or getting so much money/ assistance that they earn more than the average wage - this is what needs tackling.

Oh and before you say it - no I don't work for the olympics!!!