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The Big ‘O’ or the Big Owe?

Brian is a London cabbie and we’re using his cab as a studio for tonight’s show. Like most London cab drivers, he’s got an opinion or two: “For Stratford it’s gonna put us on the map. My only worry is the aftermath . . . will it be usable?”

Guy Nicholson is from the local council: “I think this is fabulous. It’s great for London.

Lawrence Webb from , isn’t so happy.

Mihir Bose is sports correspondent for the Telegraph (and FYI he is soon to be ) “It’s great London’s has won the bid. It all depends on how you define the cost. It’s not just running the games – like Brian said it’s the use of the facilities afterwards. We’re the 4th largest economy in the world. Why shouldn’t we host them?”

Lawrence: “it’s a onece in a lifetime opp buit we’ll be paying for this for the next 30 years. For the rets of their lives.

Guy: We’re talking about 38p per week. It is limited.”

Lawrence: “Will you pay the extra if it goes over 38p per week?”

Now via the magic of radio we’re over to Delhi . .

Akash: “Delhi is hosting the Commonwealth Games 2010. There’s been a lot of displacement follwoign the Shanghai model . . pushing the poor out. They have not been given new homes.

Sahir: “The building is helping the traffic flow. I’m grateful but 200,000 people have been displaced to remove the beggars and the poor. “

Brian: “Yes, some people have been unfortunate. For me and my pals though it’s a Godsend. We have to bite the cherry.”

Mihir: “Who is going to pay? When Londoners won it we competed against Moscow, Madrid , Paris, NYC . . .it’s a great opportunity to get away from this feeling that we don’t do things properly. We have a sense of defeatism about us.”

Now over to Johannesburg in South Africa . . . they’re looking forward to the World Cup 2010.

Kwame is in the Beeb’s Jo’burg studio: “I think the level of excitement is building. Property rates have skyrocketed. There is definitely going to be a big cost implication.”
Mihir: “I was there in Zurich when you won the bid and Mandela accepted the honour. We should minimise these things. If a country can afford it then the benefiots will be great.”

Lawrence: “If a country can afford it . . . sure. But it’s only Londonders who are paying for 2012. The whole country should pay.”

Ros: what about the Olympics in India?

Akash: “They are talking about the Olympics 2020. But the people of this country are very poor.”

Sahir: “The metro and everything will benefit but the problem is the government is chucking people out of the city just like that. There are no new homes. 20 miles is a long distance for someone who has no car, nor scooter.”

Now another continental shift . . . Over to Accra, Ghana on the Gulf of Guinea.

Dan Yeboah: “Ghana is a happy country. We appreciate having to host the entire African continent. The benefits are enormous. Any time Ghana hosted the Nations cup we win it . . . apart from 2000! For those that believe in superstition it’s good!”

Guy from has been pressed by Ros about the poverty issue: “This is going to be the regeneration games. It’s about the new world after 2012.”

Mihir wants to stress the point: “It’s worth emphasising that it was London Mayor Ken Livingston who wanted the games in the East end. This part of London has not had any investment for years.”

We’re breaking for the news, perfect time to give you some texts and mails we’ve received on this subject. Remember our contact details are TEXT: +44 77 86 20 60 80
and PHONE: +44 20 70 83 72 72.

As your man says, u wil l be paying for the rest of your life. Look at Greece. The stadiums look kike derelict building sites now.
George corfu

Montreal hosted the games in 1976. The stadium was paid for by the year 2000-something by taxing cigarettes.
Chris from Montreal

In the city of Detroit they have built two new Stadiums (baseball and American football ). We have also hosted the 3 games of the World Series, the Super Bowl, and the baseball all star game all in the last 3 years. Yet the neighborhoods still continue to suffer, and the Detroit public schools are still in very bad shape despite the heroic work of lots of great public school employees and the the citizens overall.
Neil in Detroit

The people in London should be happy about hosting the games.. Its a live time chance. And forget about the cost! Surely at the end of the Olympic games in 2012 you'll be happy!
Haji sillah in the Gambia.

Brian gets a lot of chat in his line of work: “A lot of people are apprehensive. Generally they are very pleased. Some concerns are will it just be a dust site.”

Julie is in Atlanta: “It was a wonderful experience for us. Every city should have the Olympics.”

Stuart is from Sydney: “It was fantastic in Sydney at that time. I cannot stress that it will be fantastic for London.”

Mihir: “The consensus was that Atlanta was not a good Olympics. So evewn when the image isn’t right the people of the city come away with a good feeling.”

Lawrence: “We had a comment earlier that Newham would be regenerated. But London is more than one small area. Londoners do not want to pay for Newham. Some of the money is coming from the Sports fund – £900 million.”

Stuart: “Well in Sydney it was in ±«Óătvbush . . near the middle but not a part that anyone thinks about. You’re missing the bigger picture.”

Guy: “It’s Newham, Tower Hamlets and Hackney. It’s about bringing back into use some land that was marshland that was unusable in the lower Lee Valley. The social side is important.”

Tomma: “As an Aussie in London people were coming up to me and congratulating me on what a fantastic thing Australia had done. I was so proud of what the country did.”

Stuart: “There is a greater good that can be achieved. There were a lot of cynical people in Sydney.”

Lawrence: “The Scottish Parliament was vastly over-budget. Wembley stadium is vastly over budget. We should just give it to Greece.”

Mihir: “If you ask anybody in Athens they said we don’t want it permanently. Wembley Stadium was actually being built by the FA a non-profit body”

Ros is just playing musical chairs in the back of the cab . . . thanks to Lawrence and Guy for their contributions.

Ashley an Olympic youth ambassador was in Singapore when the London won the bid: “I understand the costs may rise but with good management we can make the costs a benefit.”

Ros: “What about the fact that twenty years from now you’ll still be forking out?”

Ashley: “I’ll be happy to do it. It’ll bring so many in East London together.”

Katy Andrews is a local resident who campaigns to preserve the .

Another continental shift . . . I’m getting dizzy . . . over to the Caribbean.

Nigel has a claim to fame – he is Brian Lara’s dentist: “Trinidad didn’t have to spend as much as the others. We’ll get some exposure but not much benefit for us.”

Mihir: “They are actually getting new stadiums. I know St. Lucia has been round trying to get tourism going. There will be benefits to the Caribbean because of the 2007 World Cup.”

Peter is in Trinidad and Tobago too: “We are now coming up to the international standard. That is one benefit. Hotels is another part of it.”

Omar: “The common man in the street is still losing jobs.”

Mihir: “The whole thing will look quite breathtaking and I hope the Queen will open them up.”

Ros: “Which event will you be taking part in, in 2012?”

Brian: “Well . . . . I’m a golfer.”

Laughs all round! Trust a London cabbie to end with a pithy comment!

Well, according to , there are 7 continents. We heard from 5 of them tonight by my count. A record?

Good night and sleep tight.