In a sports debate on BBC 2 and reported in the London Evening Standard, former London Sports minister Kate Hoey claimed London did not deserve to host the Olympics. She said during the debate London was wrong to waste millions on the 2012 bid, which she believes is more likely to be won by Paris.
Hoey said, “the most inevitable thing over the next six months will be the hype about London’s Olympic bid and how we are going to win it by miles. The inevitability is that Paris is going to win. Long term we should go for the Olympic Games sometime, but I don’t think we’re ready – I don’t think we deserve it”.
Asked by the show’s host to be clear on her view of London’s prospects in the five-horse race Hoey said, “I don’t think it will happen”. She compared the Olympic bid to previous UK attempts to host the World Cup and criticized the public funds being spent on the bid.
She added, “I think the Olympics should be the icing on the cake of a wonderful sporting festival in the country. We don’t have that yet”.
The newspaper reports that according to BBC insiders Hoey continued her attack off-camera, claiming that Paris had more swimming pools than the whole of the UK.
