According to a published report, Chancellor Gordon Brown has joined a growing number of Labour ministers who believe London’s 2012 Olympic bid would be very expensive.
He said the five billion-pound cost of preparing to host the event carried too many risks and may end up in a repeat of the Millennium Dome fiasco.
The Treasury’s opposition is expected to be the final word when ministers meet at the end of January to decide whether to approve the bid, said the report.
Brown’s concerns are understood to focus on both the 13 million-dollar cost of bidding and the two billion dollars of government money, which will be needed.
Meanwhile Tessa Jowell, the Culture, Media and Sport Secretary, has said she recognizes the case for bringing the Olympic Games to London, but has voiced her concerns from the offset. She has warned that ministers are wary of cost over-runs in recent Olympics and wanted to ensure it would help run-down parts of the capital.
