Clause 31 - Distribution policy
Horserace Betting and Olympic Lottery Bill
10:15 am
Mr Richard Caborn (Minister of State (Sport and Tourism), Department for Culture, Media & Sport; Sheffield Central, Labour)
It is obvious that the hon. Gentleman has more faith in the hon. Member for Southwark, North and Bermondsey (Simon Hughes) getting elected than the hon. Member for Surrey Heath has in Steven Norris getting elected. I accept that we are not at the hustings for the Mayor of London, but it is
something of a condemnation of the Conservative candidate that he would not be able to be consulted if he were successful in becoming the Mayor of London.
I could not possibly comment on what the Mayor of Paris has been saying. We should not interfere in the bidding process in other countries. I can say that the hallmark of our approach to the bid has been the unity of purpose between the BOA, the Mayor of London, and the Government. That is reflected on the bid committee. The events of a week or so ago showed the world that there is a unity of purpose that has not been seen before.
We have been talking about the dome and Greenwich. I was in Greenwich discussing tourism. I am talking about something that is indicative of what has happened in London. Some people were saying that they have never seen such things happen in London before. We might have had to employ certain planning powers. We thought that some planning authorities might not be as co-operative as they could be. When I was in Greenwich, and talking about the development of the Olympic bid, a councillor who is part of the planning committee said what a great success it was that we had brought together all the boroughs that had a role to play in planning for the Olympics. This was before Christmas. He said to me, ''If Barbara Cassani wants a decision on Christmas day, she can have a planning committee and a decision on Christmas day.'' That is indicative of the unity of purpose that surrounds the attempt to make the games successful. No other single event has brought people together in that way.
Obviously, we must ensure that all the proper rules and regulations are in place, but we should maintain that unity and that partnership. It will be a major selling point when the IOC visits, and make us different from other cities around the world that are bidding. Anything that detracts from that would be unfortunate, if not politically naive. It is ludicrous to think that the Mayor would not be consulted about expenditure and investment in relation to the Olympic fund, when 50 per cent. of the income is being raised from that area. It would not be good in terms of the management of expenditure and the development of the facilities if artificial divisions were created. That would be counter-productive. I hope that the hon. Member for Surrey Heath will withdraw the amendment.