All posts in the topic Olympic 'Jollies' (Short link)
Summary
- There are 21 posts — by 6 authors — in this topic.
- Latest post made by Lane Taylor at Oct 14 11:01 UTC
We read that £7m of public monies is being spent on British observers going on 'Jollies' to the Beijing Olympics. At least 600 ministers, civil servants, council workers, police and BBC staff are going to attend at the taxpayers expense. At the 2004 Olympic games a mere 7 public servants had the privalege of a all expenses paid 'Jollie' Interestingly we read that Newham Council is sending sending a delegation of 5, costing us £9000 (while neighbours Greenwich are sending 6 at the cost of £14,000)* Perhaps Newhams delegates to the games will pick up some friendly advice from their Beijing counterparts regarding running an Olympic games, such as how to dispose of the homeless off the streets, or how to make peaceful demonstrators dissapear etc Does anyone on this forum know who has been sent from the Borough ? surely the likes of Sir Robin and his 'inner circle' have more pressing engagements within the Borough ? *note this information comes from the paper version of 'theLondonpaper', the web page (link below)contains a shortened version of the story. MAIN Source: http://www.thelondonpaper.com/cs/Satellite/london/news/article/1157154264507?packedargs=suffix%3DArticleController Source Chinese Homeless clear up: Source Chinese way of dealing with peaceful demonstrations: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/mar/18/tibet.china1
This is interesting stuff Lane; you could submit a Freedom of Information
request to the Council to get the answers you seek. I'd do it, but I currently
have a backlog of FOIA requests awaiting a response from the Council.
Well now we know who is going on the 'Jollie' to Beijing - from Newham '...the
borough's mayor Sir Robin Wales, its chief executive Joe Duckworth, the
Executive Member for the Olympics Cllr Paul Brickell and the Head of the 2012
Unit Nick Williams...' But I guess we should not compain as although the
estimated cost is no less than £9,000 of our money, this '...includes flights
("all economy"), visas, and hotels...' a true bargain.
Source:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/othersports/olympics/2515147/Beijing-Olympics-who-the-London-councils-are-sending.html
What makes this blatant abuse of public money thoroughly
disgusting(increasingly, the Mayor prattles on about how Newham will ride out
the financial storm that has been created by the "credit crunch" by prudent
spending by the Town Hall) is the fact that it has been kept quiet.
Ordinarily there is a press release for every move the Mayor makes (I'm
surprised we don't get an up-date on what he has for breakfast and what he
watches on TV), and the press releases are faithfully printed in the Recorder.
Yet on this, not one pixel on the Council web site or one dot in the Recorder.
This really does go beyond the pale.
As a hard pressed pensioner strugling to pay the increased fuel and food bills
every month, I strongly object to my Council Tax being used to provide a Beano
for the Mayor and his pals.
As the Mayor of the borough that will host the next Olympics, I think it is
right that he attends - there will be considerable learning that will come
of it to the 2012 team. The only thing I would object to is the complete
lack of details of the technical competence of the collective Newham
visitors - would they be the best people to go there?
Banti
2008/8/10 Charles Buhler <charlesbuhler@btinternet.com>
Banti,
I disagree.
The 2012 games will be the London Olympics so there is a very slim argument for
Boris to be there (although there is no guarantee Boris will still be mayor
then - much the same can be said for Wales); Newham is just one of the host
boroughs.
There is an argument for sending representatives from the London Organising
Committee for the Olympic Games (Wales is one of 17 members of the Committee's
Board - he's the Chair of LOCOG's Remuneration Committee; always sniffing the
money!!!) and I would suggest that the LOCOG should be sending people with some
expertise with regard to organising public events and sporting extravaganza.
Hang on! With all "free" showcase events that are held in Newham that we are
supposed to believe don't cost local people a penny, Wales is a leading expert
with regard to razzmatazz... could it be that he's out there giving the Chinese
advice?
Interestingly, out of the 5 London Boroughs hosting the games, only 3 Newham, Hackney and Greenwich have decided to have an all expenses paid 'Jollie' (combined £30,000 worth) for their top execs. Tower Hamlets and Waltham Forest declined the Chinese invitation, no doubt concious of the fact that their long suffering residents are currently hit hard by the economic downturn and loath to see their reluctantly paid council Taxes sending their councillors and chums on a Beijing free for all. It might also be noted that in Tower Hamlets and Waltham Forest, Noo Labour do not run roughshod and have some real opposition on the Council chamber floor. Source: http://www.hackneygazette.co.uk/content/hackney/gazette/news/story.aspx?brand=HKYGOnline&category=news&tBrand=northlondon24&tCategory=newshkyg&itemid=WeED07%20Aug%202008%2016%3A58%3A41%3A963
Yesterday's Recorder (Page 5) ran with a small article about the beano.
It seems that the group from Newham will be too busy to be spectators. In fact
they will be looking to "...attract sponsorship opportunities at the 2012
Olympic Park, recruit national training bodies to training facilities, and tout
a twinning arrangement with the Chaoyang district".
The first two seem a little ambitious for a local authority team (I would have
thought the LOCOG should be the body to do this) and, isn't this a little late?
On twinning with the Chaoyang district (in the eastern part of Beijing), this
is the largest and most densely populated urban area in Beijing (470.6 square
km - population of 2.29 million). It seems to share a lot with Newham, the
district administration are keen to exploit the many regeneration opportunities
that are in the pipe-line for the district.
One quote I found about the district is: "The district has become such a land
that business people from all parts can realise their dreams here". Reminiscent
of “By 2010 Newham will be a major business location and a place where people
choose to live and work.”
If this "touting" of a potential twinning is true, it is of such significance
that I fail to understand why the trip hasn't been reported on the Council's
web site or in the Newham Mag.
Incidentally, the Recorder article states that the Newham contingent will be
going out to Beijing next Wednesday... isn't that a little late? Or, should
this article have appeared in the Recorder a couple of weeks ago, was pulled
and then put in this week's because of the stuff in the Telegraph?
My good friend on Newham Council (who happens to be a much vaunted mayoral
advisor) told me that Wales and crew will be jetting off on Monday to arrive in
Beijing on Tuesday - they WILL be attending the closing ceremony... chin-chin,
drinks all round then!
Newham Jolly ! Its great to see Newham girl Christine Ohuruogu win the womans 400m in Beijing. Congratulaions to Christine for an outstanding display and well deserved win. Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2008/aug/19/christineohuruogu.olympicsathletics Further Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christine_Ohuruogu
Lane, I shared your joy at seeing Christine win gold, as did Sir Robin: http://www.newham.gov.uk/News/2008/Mayorcongratulatesgoldengirchristine.htm However, we don't know if he "offered warm congratulations" in person or "remotely" by phoning the Town Hall's Media team from the Chaoyang district and they in turn phoned Christine in Beijing to pass on his congratulations. Still no acknowledgement of his trip on the Council's Ministry of Truth inspired website.
This is from the Mayor's view in the latest Newham Mag:
"As you read these words I will be in Beijing flying the flag for Newham. I’ll
be accompanied by a small delegation, which includes Chief Executive Joe
Duckworth and the executive member for Olympics, Councillor Paul Brickell.
We’re on a fact finding mission to see how Newham can make the best of
opportunities available to us on the back of the world’s biggest sporting
event. Our corner of London will soon be the focus of millions of pairs of
global eyes.
Hosting such an enormous and long spanning event will be an exciting challenge.
We are going to Beijing to see what we can learn about the impact the Games
will have on the local community and area. We want to make the most of the
opportunities available to us as a host borough and will also be forging
relationships with potential sponsors.
The Olympic Park is not in our hands, but areas around the Park are prime
locations for promotion and investment; we intend to secure the best deals so
the community can reap the rewards long after the Olympics are over. We’re
already trying to get the best for residents by getting local people ready for
the jobs on our doorstep through Workplace, our flagship employment scheme now
in Stratford and Canning Town, which has secured hundreds of jobs for local
people. Our vast regeneration projects are beginning to take shape and come
2012 Newham will be a different borough; we want to ensure the physical, social
and economical changes benefit you and we’re committed to working hard to
ensure they do."
No mention of twinning then...
I don't understand this "fact finding" stuff; London and Beijing are very, very
different places with very different cultural and political structures.
When Chairman Wales and other Politburo and Secretariat members return, I'm
going to ask for a breakdown of what facts have been found etc.
Mike and All Ahh, but hold on a moment... The CIA World factbook says of China - 'For much of the population, living standards have improved dramatically and the room for personal choice has expanded, yet political controls remain tight' Im sure that Newhams 'fact finding' Mayor would claim the first two parts of the sentence is also true for the long suffering population of Newham... and we all know the last part of the sentence to be true of Newhams Noo Labour. Source: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ch.html Meamwhile the Olympic flag has been raised over Newham Town Hall... is it a half mast while the Great Leader is away in Beijing ? Source: http://www.24dash.com/news/Communities/2008-08-25-Newham-welcomes-the-World
Good posting Lane.
I'm heartened by the fact that you've quoted from the CIA World Factbook. Who
knows, maybe this may set a trend and we'll see another contributor to this
forum quoting from the Torah. I for one am boning up on the "Thought of
Chairman Wales".
All For anyone who missed the historic fiasco... I mean occasion of the Olympic Torch coming to Stratford, I have found an amateur movie clip on the internet, which indeed contains images of the Great Leader himself ! http://blip.tv/file/1208618 * note that the movie requires the Apple Quick Time plug in on your browser.
All Interesting to see Boris unveiling the Olympic countdown on our TV screens tonight, but far from unveiling a countdown to the London Olympics themselves, Johnson was actually unveiling a countdown to the opening of the Olympic £1.5 Billion retail shopping centre. Its good to see the UK getting its priorities right when it comes to spending huge somes of money. Forget the homeless, forget the housing recession, lets use the Olympics as an excuse to build a £1.5 Billion shopping complex to leave Lakeside, Bluewater and all the rest in the shade. It also looks like local retail businesses have been sold a pup yet again with this big retail monstrousity about to lap up any chance of the local trader making an honest buck during the Olympics. No doubt the Great Leader will be along for a ribbon cutting and photo op once the thing is built and a repeat of the old employment lie 'local jobs for local people' Watch this space. Source: http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5iT3FhUBblXVnIGqIu6TdgtzM51FA
Stratford city as it was referred to at the time (2002), was supposed to have
been completed in 2009
and the international station completed in 2007 ..The development was said to
be a mixture of new office,
retail and residential space housing around 20,000 (new ) residents 30,000
(new) office workers .The proposed
retail space will be roughly the size of lakeside and office space will nearly
be a big as canary wharf.
The residential space would stretch from Stratford to Whipps cross , from
skyscrapers to houses .
................................................................................................................................................
Part of what was said at a meeting of the planners and developers at a meeting
I reported on for the
Forest Gate Times (DEC 2002)
..............................................................................................................................................
I doubt if the present market traders in the existing market would benefit in
any way being on the opposite
side of the road to the new development ,.it will probably put them out of
business "but whats new",
and what about all the (new) residents ,dont we have a problem with
overcrowding already , nothing is ever
for existing residents or existing workers . Stratford will be unrecognisable
.
Carol.
Lane,
The foundations for this project were laid before the credit crunch and the
plans for it well before that. Now, in a market of declining commercial
rents it is hard to see how the Olympic shopping and office centre is not a
problem for someone. Every square foot of new space that comes on to the
market will contribute to a reduction in the value of commercial space.
John McNeill
And it continues. I've been told that the deputy mayor is now in Beijing to watch the para-Olympics. Don't know if she's gone out there with an entourage or if texpayers are footing the bill, but will post here when I find out. She cannot be on a fact finding "mission" as that one has already been used. Ain't life grand for some! [http://newhamdoublethink.blogspot.com/]
We read dismayed that the much chanted leisure pool for the Olympic site has been axed. We recall that such facilities, which were to remain after the Olympics, were used to justify the huge sums being spent on this 3 week sporting event. Newham was to 'contribute' £5.5 million of our money to build this leisure pool. Much of the estimated cost £26 million for the leisure facility and £14 million for the fitness centre was to have come from the private developers of a residential and retail scheme in the park, but now it looks like the money is going elsewhere leaving Newham and Tower Hamlets with yet less to chant about the wonders of the Olympic legacy - are we surprised by this latest Olympic cop-out ? Source: http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard-olympics/article-23572440-details/40m+leisure+pool+for+Olympic+site+to+be+axed/article.do