The Olympics. An obscenity.

[ivanhoe]

There is somethiing obscene about having the Olympics, when old people are enduring cuts in their cold weather payment, and millions are losing their jobs. Britain has to be the most insensitive nation on this planet.

But China did the last one and forced people out of their homes to make way for their stadiums and forced factories to close so smog wasn't an issue.
What about Africa staging the World Cup when thousands of tiny babies die every day due to no clean drinking water, nevermind the corruption that happens.
Yes spending 11,000,000,000 on a sporting event is a bit much but there are things which people feel it is worth spending money on. But if it hadn't happened they wouldn't of spent the money on us normal citizens, it would probably have bailed out another bank.

Personally I don't want them as it should have been a countrywide thing not just London, we won't get the chance to experience any of the Olympics apart from on TV.

There's another thread here about this www.mumsnet.com/Talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/1392532-to-think-that-with-all-the-talk-of-benefit-caps-and-cuts-a-TRILLION-national-debt-11-BILLION-spend-on-the-Olympics

There will be plenty of old people thrilled to see the Olympics back in the UK and happy to travel to London rather than expect the Games to come to them. Not least my 74 year-old Dad... now crippled by Parkinsons but a former athlete and a huge sports fan. Sometimes we have to elevate ourselves from the hum-drum & utilitarian and use public investment, not simply to run hospitals but also to inspire and delight. Otherwise Britain would become some colourless, uninspiring gulag.