Close

London 2012 – Economic Crisis, Security

London’s Mayor Boris Johnson pledged Tuesday that the cost to the taxpayer of the 2012 Summer Olympic Games will be kept as low as possible, reports the Daily Express.

He told MPs he was confident that the Games would be delivered within the 9.3 billion pound budget, adding that the credit crunch meant there are problems in attracting private investment.

Johnson said, “market conditions have changed and we have to cut our clothes to suit our cloth”, but it would be staged “without spending colossal sums and going overboard.

“There is clearly discussion ongoing about the funding of the (Olympic) village. We are still trying to get private sector involvement and investment”.

The estimated costs of staging the Games was 4.1 billion in 2005 when London won the bid, but it has escalated to 9.3 billion because certain costs had not been taken into account.

The Guardian reports Johnson admitted no progress had been made on who might use a scaled-down version of the 80,000-seat Olympic Stadium once the Games are over. He said, “it has got to be capable of being a world-class athletics venue. The question is how can you satisfy the needs of Premiership football and frankly that is something we have not found a solution (to)”.

Meanwhile Johnson warned Tuesday that protecting the Games will be a national issue even though they’re being largely staged in London.

He told the House of Commons Culture, Media and Sport Committee, “during the G8 (Summit) 12,000 police were moved to Scotland and terrorists struck in London. The security threat is not just for London, the security threat can be anywhere during the Games. I now think that we are marking much faster progress and there will be quite substantial protection around the main venues”.

scroll to top