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• Question by: Angie Bray
• Meeting date: 13 October 2004

I am sorry I just must comment on that, because we hear you saying that all the time about every type of finance, that the Government would not dare not give you the money, Mr Mayor, and time and time again, the Government does indeed dare not to give you the money. Therefore, I do not think that is necessarily a comfort for us to hear that from you now, and I think it is leaving it far too late, by the way, to address the overspend issue next summer when we may have already won the bid. Londoners, if...

• Question by: Angie Bray
• Meeting date: 13 October 2004

I would just point out, since the Mayor raised it, that of course the Congestion Charge is not making anything like the money that TfL originally predicted. My third question is about the lottery game that is being set up specifically to fund the Olympics. One way, surely, that we might have been able to help Londoners a little more with their bills would have been if you had fought harder, Mr Mayor - and perhaps you still can; I am hoping that this could still be rectified - to dissuade, shall I say, Gordon Brown from lifting 12 pence...

• Question by: Angie Bray
• Meeting date: 13 October 2004

You have, indeed, as I see, made some provision for contingencies - just over £1 billion - but I understand that is actually the sum of money that is included in what the Government has put as its overall figure. Indeed, that contingency money appears to have already been, if you like, spent up in advance on security costs and transport costs. Therefore, I am not sure that is the sort of sum of money I am looking at. It was Rt Hon Richard Caborn, the Labour Minister for Sport and Tourism, who said only last year that it is...

• Question by: Angie Bray
• Meeting date: 13 October 2004

Thank you. Can I just briefly say, on behalf of my group - and I would have liked to have said this to Lord Coe, himself - that we were extremely excited and thrilled at the success of our team in Athens, and we love to see all those medals coming back here. We very much hope to see a repeat of that success here in London in 2012. In order to get us there, however, I do believe that we have still to face some slightly more mundane issues, and today I would like to take the opportunity to...

• Question by: Damian Hockney
• Meeting date: 13 October 2004

Damian Hockney (AM): Elements of this argument, to me, I am sorry to say, appear to be completely weird. Mayor, you mentioned the point that Olympics have broken even or made a profit since Montreal, but the reality is the Greek finance minister only two weeks ago blamed the Greek deficit, in part, upon the losses made at the Olympic Games. Then Mike (Lee), you made a point just 60 seconds later that the IOC does not want a re-run of Athens. The point about this is it is to do with money. It is to do with the fact...

• Question by: Angie Bray
• Meeting date: 13 October 2004

Could you answer the question about the 12 pence on the tickets?

• Question by: Damian Hockney
• Meeting date: 13 October 2004

Could you ask them to put one in about that?

• Question by: Damian Hockney
• Meeting date: 13 October 2004

Mike (Lee), the point about that is that it is simply not the case. The number of people in that survey who said, "We will pay nothing," was 40%. Now, those people said, "We will pay nothing towards an Olympic Games in London terms." You cannot say that those people are supportive. I might have argued the question at the time, if I had been asked. I would have said, "Yes, I would like to see them in London," but if somebody then started asking about my support, on the basis of the costs that are unspecified or that we...

• Question by: Damian Hockney
• Meeting date: 13 October 2004

This is the problem with a supranational, international body telling us what to do, so it is unaccountable, like the EU, I guess "our other interest"

• Question by: Damian Hockney
• Meeting date: 13 October 2004

And the Eurovision Song Contest. No, I am a supporter of the Eurovision Song Contest, having sung in the song for Europe, but I will not go into that.