Olympic and Paralympic Games 2012 — Motion to Take Note

Part of the debate – in the House of Lords at 3:39 pm on 21 May 2012.

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Photo of Lord Higgins Lord Higgins Conservative 3:39, 21 May 2012

My Lords, this is a very well timed debate. The torch relay is now well under way and it seems to be received extremely well as it tours the country. A mere take note Motion may sound a little unenthusiastic, but I do not think that can be said of my noble friend the Minister's opening remarks, which reflect the growing level of excitement as the opening of the Games approaches.

Flying in to London City Airport today, it was very noticeable that there really has been regeneration in the very desolate part of the East End where the Olympic site was very sensibly located. As my noble friend said, the major architectural features-namely, the aquatics stadium, the velodrome and the main stadium-are all very different and have been well received. Will my noble friend update us on the stadium itself? Athletics has been something of a Cinderella sport compared with some others in the country and we desperately need a national athletics stadium. The stadium's design seems very good, but it is important that, whoever eventually takes it over, it should be used not merely for track but for field events. If we are going to have a football operation there as well-my noble friend encouraged me to say this-putting shot puts and so on in the middle of the football pitch during the weekend may not be a terribly good way of generating a suitable environment.

I certainly look forward to the Games. My noble friend stressed the commercial rather than the sporting aspects. I hope that our team does extremely well and we should give it every possible support, but we must recognise that medals are not easy to get and the degree of competition is perhaps far greater now than ever before. Perhaps I may be nostalgic for a moment and say that the environment is very different from that in 1948, when we had no legislation whatever on the subject and no sponsors. One must stress that the Games were entirely amateur; they did not have the degree of professionalism which they have now. That is a considerable transformation which brings with it some problems. The 1948 Games took place at a time of extreme austerity. I think that the amount of meat provided for one day for a member of the American visiting athletic team was roughly the same as that rationed to a family for a month. In preparing for those Games, I remember not having a proper vest because we had run out of clothing coupons. It was a very different atmosphere and the organisers did a remarkable job in all the circumstances.

One of the effects of the change from amateurism to professionalism is a real problem with drugs. There was no point in taking drugs in 1948 because one saw little value in finding that one had won because one had cheated, whereas once the Games are professionalised, there is a growing danger of people being tempted to take drugs. In that context-my noble friend Lord Moynihan may care to say something about this-the British Olympic Association has been absolutely right to say that we should have a complete ban. If someone is guilty of a serious drug offence, having been properly investigated and so on, the only way to deter to them is to have a complete ban. It is absurd to give them a second chance. All that does is encourage them to have a first chance and hope that they are not found out. I strongly support what the BOA has said, and I hope that we can get international agreement on it. It is quite absurd that we should not seek to ban the use of drugs. If people who have been found to contravene the rules are in the Olympics, I hope that we do not end up with a 100-metres race where half the competitors have been guilty of previous drug offences. We do not know what the long-term effects of taking drugs are, but it is extremely unlikely that the muscles that one has built up with steroids disappear very quickly. I hope that we can take a tougher line on this, and I welcome the line that my noble friend and his colleagues have been taking.

In the course of our previous debates-we have spent a while debating these issues-the question arose of what happens if people arrive at the stadium with tickets which they cannot use. At an earlier stage, my noble friend Lord Coe said that the committee was considering whether it would be possible to hand in tickets officially, rather as one does with Wimbledon tickets if one is leaving after a particular match, so that they could then be resold at face value. I am not clear where we are on that; we have been left rather in the dark.

Our debate in Committee on the Bill was also rather cut short on the question of protesters. Given the problems that we have had in Parliament Square, we do not want to find a whole stack of people camping outside the stadium protesting about issues which may well be entirely irrelevant. Are we satisfied that the rules for dealing with protesters-particularly the establishment of any form of permanent operation for protest during the course of the Games-are under control?

We must certainly hope that the overall effect of the Games-I declare an interest as a patron of my club, Herne Hill Harriers-will be greatly to encourage participation in sport. The Games authorities have been very good in seeking to ensure that people come along, watch and are encouraged to take up sport in various shapes and forms. That should be the best legacy from the Games. It means that we will have to provide the facilities. In that context, the proposals to change planning laws, and so on, should make it clear that if planning permission is given which eliminates a sporting facility it is replaced with something of equal value.

All those are issues for the future. Meanwhile, we must hope that our team does well. We must encourage them in every way possible. Finally, we should congratulate, not least, those in this House who have been actively involved in the whole operation-in the same way that Lord Burghley and others were back in 1948. That is a good tradition. I think that they have done a very good job and I hope that the fruits of their success give us a major national event of which we can all be proud.