Olympics, Anybody Got Tickets?

The LondonOlympics 2012 is a once-in-a-lifetime event. So why, asks Mark Perryman, have so few of us got tickets?

 

With the Jubilee over and the England football team unlikely to provide much of a lasting distraction at the Euros, the 50-day countdown to the London Olympics is now entering serious overdrive.

 

Right from the start of the bidding competition back in 2005, hosting a ‘home’ Olympics was sold to the British public as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. This was no idle boast: Along with football’s World Cup (which England can’t even think of hosting till at least 2026) the Olympics is undoubtedly the biggest show on earth. Spread across 26 different sports and with over 200 countries competing, its reach and appeal is enormous.

 

The sales pitch of the Olympic organisers was explicit: This was an opportunity to be there while history was being made, to witness something unforgettable first-hand, to bring the memories of past Games watched on TV to vivid life. The Games organisers did little or nothing to dampen expectation that tickets for the Games would there for the taking.

 

John Carlos - the whole nine yards

A diamond job: the inhumanity of Workfare

Something deeply disturbing occurred on the river Thames in London over the weekend. While thousands had their parade rained upon as a flotilla of boats celebrated the Queen’s diamond jubilee, the scale of the attack on the poor in this society became more obvious.

To steward the event, a large team of unemployed men and women were bussed in from the South West of England by Close Protection UK . The company initially told the team that they would be paid for two days work during the weekend and bank holiday. Upon arrival in the middle of the night in London, the company reneged upon this offer. Thirty received no money at all while fifty more, on ‘apprenticeships’ received £2.80 per hour. The stewards were told to camp on the concrete under London Bridge as the rain poured.

When they woke, they were given clothes for the stewarding but nowhere to change. There were not even toilet facilities. After the parade, the group were taken by tube to Essex to pitch their tents in the dark. Another uncomfortable, cold and rainy night followed. Close Protection UK laughably claimed that this was part of the training for an NVQ in ‘spectator safety’ and, if the group did this work for nothing, they would be considered for the paid jobs at the Olympics. The question is how much are the contracts to provide safety at the parade and the Olympics worth to the company? Did the company’s bid include not paying staff and making them sleep rough in the streets?

While huge amounts of money are lavished on the diamond jubilee for a monarch who is paid by the taxpayer yet has wealth in excess of £300 million, the poorest are being reduced to Dickensian workhouse conditions. While enormous sums of money are frittered away for the Olympics, slave labour is being introduced for those without work. A government Work Programme has shown its true colours.

The Respect Party believes:

• The Close Protection UK contracts for the jubilee celebrations and the Olympics should be made public immediately.
• The group of unemployed people subjected to this abuse should be paid the going rate for manual labour from the point of pickup until return home and they should be given compensation by the company and the government for the indignity of what they suffered.
• The government must declare how much it knew about this abuse and whether there are any conflicts of interest in relation to this company.
• Close Protection UK should removed from all government contracts forthwith.
• All government workfare and Work programmes should be immediately investigated.

The number of poor people in Bed and Breakfast accommodation has tripled; the number of people reduced to the charity of food banks has rocketed; jobs, wages and services are being slashed while contracts are awarded to private sector outfits that treat people in this disgraceful and inhumane way.

This is not the celebration of the pride of Britain, it is the calculated and brutal destruction of all that prevented widespread poverty. This is the scandal of government Work Programmes, for which the government should be put out of work. Our hope lies in resisting these attacks on our living standards and breaking the political orthodoxy that says austerity for the poor and bailouts for the rich.

It's the taking part...

According to the organizers, encouraging participation in sport is one of the main benefits of the London 2012 Olympics. Mark Perryman examines the evidence.

The Olympic motto “ The most important thing is not winning but taking part” represents some of the finest ideals not only of Olympism but of any sporting event aspiring to be democratic, participative and accessible. After this weekend’s Jubilee hoopla fades away, the coming summer of sport - Euro 2012, a serious British challenger to win the Tour de France, Wimbledon fortnight, overseas rugby tours to the southern hemisphere, a domestic test match series and the first, and last, home Olympics for most of our lifetimes - will no doubt test such sentiments to the full. A nation that invented many of the world’s team sports has, perhaps forgivably, some difficulty in coping with repeated defeats by the nations to which it exported them. Add in a lengthy martial and imperial tradition, and CLR James’ famous maxim ‘What do they know of cricket who only cricket know’ can be seen as essential to understanding why the British are not the world’s best losers.

'Wastefield' hole occupied in Bradford

Concerned residents of Bradford have started an occupation of the Westfield Hole in Bradford city centre this afternoon. It seems that a number of residents have decided to say enough is enough. Occupy Westfield are, we understand, determined to occupy the Westfield hole until Westfield go ahead with the centre they promised to build more than eight years ago, or the council takes the site back and does something constructive with it.

George Galloway was alerted to the occupation during the John Carlos meeting in Bradford and then went to the site to visit the Occupation and to hear the demands in person.

The Real Deal with George Galloway

Seamus Milne of the Guardian talks to George about the crisis in Greece and across the Euro-zone.

Film maker Ken Loach backs Respect's Paulette North for Bristol Mayor

Internationally renowned local filmmaker Ken Loach has given his full backing to Paulette North the Respect Party's candidate for the forthcoming Bristol mayoral election.

Ken Loach whose latest film is up for yet another prestigious award and whose other films include Kes, Looking for Eric and The Wind that Shakes the Barley, had this to say about why he backs Paulette North, "I am pleased to support Paulette. She would work for the ordinary people of Bristol. She would defend them against the vested interests of big business and central government. She would be the 'people's Mayor'!"

Paulette North said of the support of Mr Loach. " I am delighted that someone whose films are so inspirational, speaks so highly of me. But most of all it's an endorsement of the values and principles we both share".

Paulette North has made it clear about what she believes would make Bristol a better and fairer City, preferring straight talking to the usual bland vagueness of other politicians.

She has stated: "It is a disgrace that Bristol can be both so prosperous yet have some of the most deprived areas in the country.

Bristol should aspire to be a City of full employment. We can start by bringing all the empty housing stock back up to a living standard. It is wrong that we have thousands of empty houses whilst we have people on the waiting list and others are homeless. And at the same time there are unemployed construction workers, bricklayers, plumbers and electricians. That's ridiculous people in work pay taxes and will spend their money in the stores and shops in Bristol, making it right for everyone.

The council should bring work back 'in house' using direct labour with apprenticeships at proper rates of pay. Top quality support must be provided by the council to our elders. The cuts made in community funding must be restored. The Educational Maintenance Allowance [EMA] must be restored to give hope to the young people of Bristol. Schools should be under council control.

Privatised bus and rail transport has been a disaster - high fares, overcrowded trains and inadequate service. They need to be under the control of the council. Council tax should be replaced by a local income tax based on people's ability to pay and big business should be contributing much more."

Jerry Hicks Bristol Respect convenor said "Paulette [North] is unique in that she would not take any six figure salary but instead only accept the average working wage as Mayor. She is determined not to burden council tax payers with the costs of another layer of bureaucracy and would rely on existing council staff to support the work of the Mayor".

Respect and Labour debate - What happened in Bradford?

Next stop for the Respect 'spring' - Manchester Central

Leading Tory joins Respect in Bradford

George Galloway last Saturday welcomed the latest recruit to Respect, Qurban Malik. Mr Malik has been an active Conservative for many years and was deputy chairman of the Bradford Conservative Party. He stood for the Tories in Manningham ward in the recent local elections.

"The old parties have failed Bradford," said Mr Malik. "Respect has shown it has huge support in Bradford city from an electorate desperate for change and desperate for a positive vision for Bradford's future."

George Galloway welcomed Mr Malik to the Respect Party just before the party's national council meeting, held in Bradford for the first time. "We are attracting support from all of the major parties and from that majority in the country which is increasingly saying none of the above. Mr Malik gave me invaluable personal support in the by-election. I am delighted that a man of very considerable standing has now decided to do everything can to build the Respect Party here in Bradford."