- Reference: 2007/3119
- Question by: Damian Hockney
- Meeting date: 12 December 2007
When I predicted in 2005 that the 2012 Olympics would cost taxpayers £10 billion, you suggested that I should not be unpatriotic and should support the bid. After Tessa Jowell's confirmation almost 2 years later of a figure of £9.3 billion, you told me that the contingency was very large and that the bill would never reach that. Now the government is suggesting that the contingency could indeed be used. Would it not be sensible to scrap some proposed Olympic venues and use existing ones in order to remain within the existing budget?