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Jobs

They'll be a huge spike in unemployment.

Woohoo, what a catalyst!

Nah.

Anyway, if you're right and the Olympics provide a temporray relief then isn't that a good thing??

The benefits have been felt over the past 7 years as money has been spent all over the country, including £700 million in my fair county!

This is an amazing PR opportunity and it can only be good for the country IMO.

Given we spend £720 billion a year including £200 billion on the welfare state, £9 billion over 7 years for the olympics is pocket change and what I want my tax being spent on, not 3rd generation scum who drain billions from the state.
 
Nah.

Anyway, if you're right and the Olympics provide a temporray relief then isn't that a good thing??

The benefits have been felt over the past 7 years as money has been spent all over the country, including £700 million in my fair county!

This is an amazing PR opportunity and it can only be good for the country IMO.

Given we spend £720 billion a year including £200 billion on the welfare state, £9 billion over 7 years for the olympics is pocket change and what I want my tax being spent on, not 3rd generation scum who drain billions from the state.

Well er, no actually. Solving unemployment isn't achieved by throwing ridiculous sums of money at short-term projects like the Olympics, it's solved by having some proper policy in place and strong government to implement it - both of which are distinctly lacking.

You keep reeling out this "amazing PR opportunity" line like a broken record. In reality - thus far - it's been nothing short of a PR disaster; bringing attention upon how fudging incompetent the country and its government truly is. Good for the country? fudging hell mate, the country is being laughed at.

You've swallowed the hook well and truly about the Olympics haven't you? You honestly think it's some kinda money-making machine. Where's the evidence for it? Governments always make these spurious claims about how it'll bring in so much money, yet - in reality - nothing of the sort ever happens; instead, all you're left with are white elephant arenas while the IOC and its 'partners' fudges off out the country with a stonking profit.

Each to their own, but I'd rather £9,000,000,000 was spent on upgrading the countries airport capacity, namely a new airport in the Thames Estuary. Not only would that provide for long-term guaranteed employment for thousands of people, it would also serve as a conduit through which inward investment could flood into the UK. That's what is going to grow the economy, not tinkling money up the wall on stupid vanity exercises like the Olympics.
 
£9 billion for an airport in the Thames estuary?

Try 4 times that amount, and try getting planning permission for it. Or for any airport increase in the south east. The soonest that airport will be built is 2025......the games has benefited the country already, and will do so this summer.

The government just announced £9 billion in rail infrastructure spend, major electrification on the Trans Pennine route, Midland Mainline and loads of others. Crossrail? HS2? Complete tube renewal?

M1 Widening?
M62 widening
A1 widening?

They are spending billions on infrastructure mate, and the new guarantee scheme announced today for spade ready schemes will further drive investment.

As I said, the £ billion cost has been repaid already in terms of the jobs it supported and created, all steel, contractors etc.....all UK companies. And EVERY area of the whole UK has benefited from Olympic contracts.

Then we have this short term spike in employment. And it is hard to quantify, but look at Barcelona, Beijing, Sydney.....all had their profiles increased massively via the Olympics........it can only be a good thing for the country.

As I said, over the last 7 years we have spent £1400 billion, that's £1,400,000,000,000..... on the welfare state, that compared to £1.3 billion per year over the same period is fudge all and EXACTLY what I want my money spent on. As well as the infrastructure programmes we both agree are good areas to target.
 
£9 billion for an airport in the Thames estuary?

Try 4 times that amount, and try getting planning permission for it. Or for any airport increase in the south east. The soonest that airport will be built is 2025......the games has benefited the country already, and will do so this summer.

The government just announced £9 billion in rail infrastructure spend, major electrification on the Trans Pennine route, Midland Mainline and loads of others. Crossrail? HS2? Complete tube renewal?

M1 Widening?
M62 widening
A1 widening?

They are spending billions on infrastructure mate, and the new guarantee scheme announced today for spade ready schemes will further drive investment.

As I said, the £ billion cost has been repaid already in terms of the jobs it supported and created, all steel, contractors etc.....all UK companies. And EVERY area of the whole UK has benefited from Olympic contracts.

Then we have this short term spike in employment. And it is hard to quantify, but look at Barcelona, Beijing, Sydney.....all had their profiles increased massively via the Olympics........it can only be a good thing for the country.

As I said, over the last 7 years we have spent £1400 billion, that's £1,400,000,000,000..... on the welfare state, that compared to £1.3 billion per year over the same period is fudge all and EXACTLY what I want my money spent on. As well as the infrastructure programmes we both agree are good areas to target.

Yeah why not £9Bn? It only cost $20Bn to build Kansai - get the Japs over to build it if needs be. As for planning permission - money talks mate. Something drastic needs to be done about aviation capacity in the SE; significant pressure is now rightly being applied on government to take their finger out and do something about it, because prevaricating and simply saying 'no' just isn't an option.

Olympics is a short-term bump in the economy mate; an airport is a long-term strategic investment in your infrastructure, with sustainable employment opportunities, not to mention exponential growth owing to greater worldwide connectivity.

With respect, there's no fudging money in the UK mate; like it or lump it, but the UK has now gotta go cap-in-hand to emerging markets and make itself an advantageous destination for global companies to base their operations. Global companies require global connections, and electrifying some railway set just doesn't quite cut that mustard.

I saw the announcement today. Hilarious. Did I hear that muppet Osbourne claim that - apparently - this verified his policies or something? What a fudging clown. The announcement actually proves that his policy decisions have been nothing short of a disaster, and he's now had to revert back to the age-old policy of investing in your country when times are bad. It's common fudging sense, but that buffoon is walking around without his lights on, as are the rest of the silverspoon chums around him. Big business have been telling them to get their fudging finger out and do this for the last 2 years, yet the muppet stuck to his brick 'strategy' which - as the IMF attest to - is now proven to be nothing short of comic book material.

Your "profile" doesn't mean fudge all though; you can raise that by spending £10million on graffetiing every airport with lovely pictures of your country and begging them to come and visit it. £9Bn to raise the profile? haha - again, comic book stuff. I wanna see how cold hard cash that £9Bn returns to the economy because 'investing' in every single other Olympics has - thus far - been a break-even exercise, at best.

You can always downplay cost when you adjust the timescales. It's still £9Bn though isn't it? For me, £9Bn which has been spent on some stupid pipedream which will never actually come to pass. £9Bn which should've been spent on a project which - at the very least - promises more than just some 3mth employment spike. £9Bn 'regenerating' - apparently - some brickhole part of London, yet where are the jobs to actually substantiate these claims?
 
Why hasn't Heathrow been expanded?

Yep.....opposition. This is the UK mate, not China where the state can smash your house down overnight and you can't do fudge all.

I completely agree that we desperately need more capacity to get direct routes to the BRIC countries and we are losing out to FRA, CDG and AMS big time.

Where they want to build that airport is a designated area of natural beauty and has rare birds....good luck getting planning any time soon! :)

I'm glad you agree we've broken even on the Olympics, at worst.

So your 'project' is a complete pipe dream that will never happen. Unlike the Olympics, which are indeed happening and will leave a legacy sporting infrastructure as well as regenerating a big part of the East End.

And bird in the hand.
 
As an aside.....I agree that Keynesian counter-cyclical spending is the right thing to do....but given that the current government inherited a £192 billion deficit what do you propose?

Trying to cut the deficit and maintain the capital spending programmes is almost impossible, the only way this can be done is by cutting wages and posts, and that's REALLY popular isn't it!!? :)
 
Hard to say If London will benefit after the games. Athens is a good example of a country that hasn't benefitted from the Olympics. They have so many unused, decrepit stadiums that are just sitting there.
 
Hard to say If London will benefit after the games. Athens is a good example of a country that hasn't benefitted from the Olympics. They have so many unused, decrepit stadiums that are just sitting there.

I think that's why the venues are temporary, or already have a legacy secured.

Also - Greece wasn't bankrupted by the Olmypics! It was due to not collecting any fudging tax and paying train dricers £60k a year.
 
I think that's why the venues are temporary, or already have a legacy secured.

Also - Greece wasn't bankrupted by the Olmypics! It was due to not collecting any fudging tax and paying train dricers £60k a year.

Never said it was. It was just an example of what could happen to the stadiums over here if we don't get our act together.
 
Not being funny mate, I'm not sure giving the Olympic Stadium to West Ham or Leyton Orient is a legacy.

What's going to happen to the other venues then? The velodrome, Aquatics centre, Basketball arena etc?
 
Why hasn't Heathrow been expanded?

Yep.....opposition. This is the UK mate, not China where the state can smash your house down overnight and you can't do fudge all.

I completely agree that we desperately need more capacity to get direct routes to the BRIC countries and we are losing out to FRA, CDG and AMS big time.

Where they want to build that airport is a designated area of natural beauty and has rare birds....good luck getting planning any time soon! :)

I'm glad you agree we've broken even on the Olympics, at worst.

So your 'project' is a complete pipe dream that will never happen. Unlike the Olympics, which are indeed happening and will leave a legacy sporting infrastructure as well as regenerating a big part of the East End.

And bird in the hand.

It hasn't been expanded because government after government hasn't had the gonads or foresight to take a decision to save the UK's competitiveness; instead, pandering to a bunch of tree-huggers who contribute fudge all to the economy.

Natural beauty and rare birds. Right. Someone's really got their priorities in order! fudge the birds, let them go and fly somewhere else; after all, that's what birds do. As for beauty? fudge me, it's about as beautiful as a well landed brick in the toilet. Of course do-gooders will pipe up - they've got fudge all else to do once they're retired - but central government should tell them all to shut the fudge up, because no-one else is gonna pay their pensions.

I haven't agreed with anything to do with London 2012; how can you, when it's not even happened yet!? The fact is, no Olympics has ever brought through this much promised profit and revenue. It just doesn't happen and it's a complete myth. No point knocking one out over a few steel contracts and 3mths worth of retail employment - that aint gonna pay the bills mate!

What fudging legacy mate? Seriously, let's not be silly here. They're desperately trying to turn most of the venues into something other than sports-related, yet - guess what - no interest = big fat white elephants, just like the ridiculous Millennium Dome. I dunno how often you've actually been to the East End but - trust me - Stratford is fudging tiny, and there is no way it represents "a big part". What exactly has been "regenerated" anyway? How can the 'regeneration' be sustained, if there's no jobs there? It's just going to become yet another social vacuum of deprivation.
 
The 'Basketball Arena' is the o2....so that stays as it is!

The Aqautics centre and the velodrome will be used to host world champs and as training facilities for UK sport, as the commonwealth facilities in Manchester at Eastlands are.

The aquatics centre and velodrome are world class facilities that will be used for years to come, just like Ponds Forge in Sheffield is and that was built for the World Student Games 20 years ago!

Tennis Wimbledon
Volleyball - Earls Court
Boxing - Excel
Gymnastics - o2
Beach Volleyball - Temporary
Handball - Temporary
Rowing - Temporary
Sailing - The Sea :)

It is completely true and not hyperbole to say these are the most sustainable games in history.
 
London is a great city with a rich history and tradition. People come to London to see the Tower Of London, Big Ben, the theatre, shopping, museums and many other great sites. I'm skeptical that people are going to come to London just to see Stratford.
 
It hasn't been expanded because government after government hasn't had the gonads or foresight to take a decision to save the UK's competitiveness; instead, pandering to a bunch of tree-huggers who contribute fudge all to the economy.

Natural beauty and rare birds. Right. Someone's really got their priorities in order! fudge the birds, let them go and fly somewhere else; after all, that's what birds do. As for beauty? fudge me, it's about as beautiful as a well landed brick in the toilet. Of course do-gooders will pipe up - they've got fudge all else to do once they're retired - but central government should tell them all to shut the fudge up, because no-one else is gonna pay their pensions.

I haven't agreed with anything to do with London 2012; how can you, when it's not even happened yet!? The fact is, no Olympics has ever brought through this much promised profit and revenue. It just doesn't happen and it's a complete myth. No point knocking one out over a few steel contracts and 3mths worth of retail employment - that aint gonna pay the bills mate!

What fudging legacy mate? Seriously, let's not be silly here. They're desperately trying to turn most of the venues into something other than sports-related, yet - guess what - no interest = big fat white elephants, just like the ridiculous Millennium Dome. I dunno how often you've actually been to the East End but - trust me - Stratford is fudging tiny, and there is no way it represents "a big part". What exactly has been "regenerated" anyway? How can the 'regeneration' be sustained, if there's no jobs there? It's just going to become yet another social vacuum of deprivation.

Erm.....so we agree on the airports then? I'm not saying you're wrong.....i'm just saying welcome to the UK my friend, you know what it's like.

Look at my list below.......the venues are all temporary or already have a legacy secured......apart from the Olympic Stadium, and that was meant to be dismantled and reduced to 25,000 athletics facility along the lines of Crystal Palace, then football got involved!!And I hate to break this to you, but you do know what's at the dome now don't you?

http://www.theo2.co.uk/

Whoops
 
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