Boris & Olympics 2012: Memorandum Of Misunderstanding
From the Mayor's Office, a press release:
"The Mayor has reiterated his commitment to London Council tax payers that they will not pay a single penny more towards funding the 2012 Games."
Yes, that's what I heard on the radio this morning.
"He was correcting allegations made this morning on BBC Radio 4's Today Programme that a secret agreement existed between the former Mayor of London Ken Livingstone and the government outlining how any cost overruns would be allocated if the 2012 Games budget were exceeded."
Pardon? Could you repeat that?
"He was correcting allegations made this morning on BBC Radio 4's Today Programme that a secret agreement existed between the former Mayor of London Ken Livingstone and the government outlining how any cost overruns would be allocated if the 2012 Games budget were exceeded."
No he wasn't. He was talking about a Memorandum of Understanding published a year ago, placed in the Commons library and posted on the Department of Culture, Media and Sport website. He said, "I rather doubt that it exists." And nobody alleged that it was a "secret agreement." The press release continues:
"The agreement referred to is in fact the Memorandum of Understanding between the Mayor and the Government published in full on the 27 June 2007. It was placed in the House of Commons library and can be accessed on the Department of Culture Media and Sport website."
Isn't that what I just said? And is this the Memorandum in question? Thought so.
The more times I read it, the more totally bonkers it sounds. What were they thinking?
Posted by: Tory Troll | June 19, 2008 at 05:03 PM