£1,000,000 Olympic Torch

[nivrip]

It is going to cost £1,000,000 to "protect" the Olympic Torch as it passes through London. This is simply the overtime pay for the Police used during the duration of the event.

I cannot see any justification for that sort of outlay. I'm sorry, but I would just scrub the whole thing even though it would be a great shame.

 

[TriplexDread]

Scrub it for me too.

No great loss as far as i'm concerned.

 

[Adywebb]

Yep - alot of money.....but it may not be enough

 

[floppybootstomp]

Ah.... mixed views here.

Are we agreed that the Olympics is a great tradition?

Are we agreed that this is a worldwide event that has taken part since Homer's Odyssey was written and is part of our worldwide culture?

Do we not agree that all nations coming together brings about a worldwide spirit of camaraderie?

And are we not generally in agreement that all nations meeting under a friendly spirit of sportsmanship is a good thing?

And we probably agree that worldwide there are a number of (mostly) Islamic fundamentalists that would love to see all of us forcibly converted to worshipping Allah and have all our women wearing veils?

And that these same Al-Qeda social club members want to kill any westerner who doesn't necessarily agree with their beliefs?

We may also observe that a worldwide gathering of sports people would be a prime target for these evil so and so's to make their point and gain valuable column inches in the world's press.

By shedding blood. Innocent blood.

We could also consider the point that to win the right to host these games is a great worldwide honour.

Those who argue that the cost is too high are killjoys.

How much does one nuclear sub cost to build, maintain and run for one year? A sub that will probably never be used. Let's get things in perspective here.

Ok, assuming we want to host the Olympics, all siting locations, mosque building and awarding of building contracts aside, how much do we spend on our security services to make sure Freddie Makumbo from Kenya doesn't get taken out by a suicide bomber whilst running the triathalon?

Lots of money, I'm afraid.

Lots of police, lots of covert security, lots of intelligence.

The budget, people, in terms of the national agenda, is peanuts.

We spend more in MEP's hotel bills.

Oh, ok, we don't, but you get my point.

Stop looking at huge sums of money as if it were your own and consider it as part of the National Budget.

Then be proud the UK (that's us in case you forgot) is hosting a worldwide event

 

[Adywebb]

QFT


£1 Million is a tiny sum compared to what the government wastes on many many other things

The Olympics here in 2012 will be great

 

[nivrip]

The Olympics isn't taking place here in the UK, it's in China !!

We're talking about £1,000,000 to run the torch through London !! Is it worth that much for a very peripheral part of the Olympics.

I'm not for scrubbing the Olympic Games. I think it's a great event and should continue.

 

[Alf]

Bah! You English spend too much monies!

 

[floppybootstomp]

The Olympics isn't taking place here in the UK, it's in China !!

We're talking about £1,000,000 to run the torch through London !! Is it worth that much for a very peripheral part of the Olympics.

I'm not for scrubbing the Olympic Games. I think it's a great event and should continue.

Agreed, but it's the spirit of the whole thing that counts.

To be part of it now is to be part of 2012.

How much would a million quid cover?

Maybe two or three demos at Buck House

Honest, it's peanuts - perspective.

And anyway, there's a lot of Old Bill on a tight budget who really gonna be glad of the overtime.

As I said - perspective

 

[floppybootstomp]

Bah! You English spend too much monies!

And you Yanks don't?

ROFLMFAO........

 

[Adywebb]

The Olympics isn't taking place here in the UK, it's in China !!

We're talking about £1,000,000 to run the torch through London !! Is it worth that much for a very peripheral part of the Olympics.

I'm not for scrubbing the Olympic Games. I think it's a great event and should continue.

The Olympic Torch travels through many countries from Olympia to the venue of the Olympic Games, and passed through London prior to the last games in Athens 2004 - and as Flops has said it is a trifling sum compared to what the Government spends annually.

This is all a build up to London 2012 - which will be a fantastic event

 

[Alf]

And you Yanks don't?

ROFLMFAO........

 

[Ian]

I'm all for the torch passing through - as others have said, £1M (likely more) is nothing compared to many other expenditures. Yes, it's a lot of money that could be sent on other things - but that could be said on so many other things. If we didn't spend anything on public events then it would be a boring place indeed Just think on how many people will make a bit of a day out to see the torch passing through, getting all excited about the London Olympics.

I'm certain people will try and interfere with the torch passing through London to protest about the state of civil rights in China, and I guess that takes up a chunk of the expense, along with general crowd control etc... I bet the amount spent on a single night policing London just to deal with people that are drunk comes to about the same.

£1M is small change compared to the bonuses of some City workers - that puts things in perspective There are so many things we could skimp and save on, but big public events like this would be a big shame to miss IMO.

 

[nivrip]

Well folks, was it all worth it? Paris too?

The old tradition of torch carrying for the Olympics reduced to a complete fiasco here and in France. Fraid we will only remember all the trouble. And at what cost?

 

[Adywebb]

Absolutely worth it - it gave folks an opportunity to exercise their democratic right to protest and highlight on a global stage what is going on in Tibet

The Torch will still find its way to Beijing and we will still have an excellent Olympic Games.

 

[floppybootstomp]

What Ady said

 

[nivrip]

it gave folks an opportunity to exercise their democratic right to protest and highlight on a global stage what is going on in Tibet

Protests against China can take place any time and anywhere - and I AGREE with the protests but not at such a time and place. It reduced the whole torch carrying process to a shambles. What's going on in Tibet is a disgrace. I suppose it's only natural that protesters will aim to cause maximum disruption and, as the Authorities knew this would happen, it would have been better IMO to scrub the torch carrying here and save all the hassle.

The torch carrying process is not a very old tradition anyway - it was introduced by the Nazis in 1936 to "glorify" the Third Reich. The fire burning throughout the period of the Olympics was only introduced in 1928, although it is thought that it may have been the tradition in ancient Greece.

The Torch will still find its way to Beijing and we will still have an excellent Olympic Games.

It certainly will get to Beijing and I sincerely hope we have an excellent Olympics.

 

[floppybootstomp]

In my view, the age or origin of the tradition are unimportant.

Again in my view, to have cancelled the running of the Olympic Torch through London would have been a blow to democracy that ironically would have put us on a par with the way China sometimes conducts it's affairs.

And had we cancelled the running, how would all the other Nations who allowed it view us?

I believe the original argument was one of finance, not a moral issue, and it would seem the majority in this debate consider it financially worthwhile.

Quite odd really, as I am neither a sporting fan nor one who would normally support tradition for the sake of tradition. But this is an almost Global affair and to take part is to take part fully, whatever the problems of the day are.

 

[Anon_F]

I thought the Olympic Torch had to stay lit the whole time for the spirit of the games to continue, except when it's travelling by plane when a special protective shield is used. Yesterday in Paris 3 time's they put the flame out to travel on buses!

As for it's trip to Australia, the Australia Government have said that they will protect it and that the Chinese security officers in blue tracksuits will not be allowed to protect it. If it's in Australia then Australia Police/Defence Forces will protect it.

That is if the IOC allow the torch to carry on with it's journey round the world!