Olympics and Paralympics (Funding)

Part of Estimates Day — [4th Allotted Day] — Vote on Account 2012-13 — Department for Culture, Media and Sport – in the House of Commons at 6:09 pm on 27 February 2012.

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Photo of Guy Opperman Guy Opperman Conservative, Hexham 6:09, 27 February 2012

It is always a great honour to follow my hon. Friend Paul Maynard. He is clearly taking the clever man to Cleveleys, as well as demonstrating a greater degree of passion for disability sport than any other Member. Like him, I have a poor record as a dressage performer; I frequently lost my horse from the arena and was eventually demoted and finally fired from the team. I was a much better jockey—but I was not that brilliant a jockey either, as I broke 19 bones, which hurt a great deal, and ended up in hospital more times than I care to name.

A feature of this debate has been that Members of Parliament have attempted to do two things. First, they have attempted to persuade their constituents that they do not have any Olympic tickets. I, too, can assure my constituents that I have no Olympic tickets, despite having made great efforts. I can find nobody who has tickets—[Interruption.] Except my hon. Friend Dr Coffey. People should write to her on a regular basis for her tickets, which are doubtless for the football, as she is a keen Liverpool fan. Other hon. Members who, like me, have no tickets have attempted to assure our constituents that we are people who are well capable—