Clause 39 - Short title
London Olympics Bill
9:30 am
Richard Caborn (Minister of State (Sport), Department for Culture, Media & Sport; Sheffield Central, Labour)
First, I apologise slightly because I got in at 3 o'clock this morning after coming back from Manchester following a great victory by England over Poland and I have not followed my speaking notes as I should have done. I should have welcomed you to the Chair, Mr. Hood. The proceedings have moved on quite quickly, but could I welcome you to the Chair now, and Mr. Amess as well?
As the hon. Member for Bath (Mr. Foster) said, we are here this morning because of the support from both Opposition parties. That is why I hope that the proceedings over the next few weeks will deal only with detail rather than with principle. We have had an incredibly good dialogue. The reason why we are here with a Bill that is pretty sound now is that we did a lot of work before 6 July, when we won the games, which has put us in a good position to move the proceedings forward.
On amendment No. 64 and the sentiments expressed by the hon. Gentleman, one of the things that we put very forcefully in our bid was that the Paralympics were coming home, because 1948, when the Olympics took place in London, was, many say, the origin of the Paralympics. I therefore agree in principle with what the hon. Gentleman said. If he withdraws the amendment, I will ensure that it comes back on Report. The lawyers want to look at it, as always, but I am sure that we will not deviate from the words in the amendment. With that assurance, I hope that the hon. Gentleman will withdraw it. We will bring it back on Report.