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Government Report Gives London 2012 A Boost

A 200-page published report by the Government’s Strategy Unit into the structure of sport gave London’s 2012 bid a boost Thursday after a section in a leaked first draft of the document, claiming there was no firm evidence major sports events had any measurable positive effect, was removed.

Had the section not been deleted, it would have been difficult for the British government to back London’s 2012 Summer Olympic bid.

It is understood that the report was changed after critics highlighted the success of the Commonwealth Games in transforming east Manchester and spin-off effects of major events across the world.

The report comes amid escalating estimates of the cost of hosting the Games and the potential public subsidy that would be required.

According to the Financial Times government planners have now concluded that, in a worst case scenario, costs could reach close to 5.4 billion pounds and the potential public subsidy almost three billion pounds.

These estimates allow for inflation, a contingency set at 25 per cent on running costs and the risk that income may be lower than anticipated, for example, as a knock-on effect of the difficult current state of the media rights market.

Tessa Jowell, secretary of state for Culture, Media and Sport, announced the details of the report in the British Parliament Thursday.

Meanwhile members of the House of Lords sent an unequivocal message to the British government Wednesday during a debate in the House of Lords.

Former sports ministers, Olympic champions, business leaders, and social and regeneration experts from all sides of the House called on the government to support the bid.

The government will be holding an opinion poll on whether or not to support the bid, to be held before it makes a decision by the end of January. House of Lords spokeswoman Baroness Blackstone said the public’s views were “essential”. She said the Games would require a public subsidy of two billion pounds which would have to be justified to the taxpayer.

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