[GiRTh]

The cost of the 2012 has been grossly underestimated. The real cost is set to be around £9 billion. Is this a waste of money? Should this money be used to improve education and health care? Or is it more important to raise the profile of London and, more importantly, Great Britain?

I hope this topic sparks a lively debate. I can see both sides of the argument so will remain firmly seated on the fence.

[Lauren]

The bottom line is. The government couldn't organise a piss up at a brewery.

To go into detail:
- In the current situation with NHS cutbacks, job cuts, suffering prison service, yob culture - the last thing we need to be doing is wishing away money. However, the government seem to think it perfectly ok to go overboard on their budget by a few billion pounds....

HOWEVER, I think the Olympics coming to the UK is a good thing overall (If the Government could stick to a budget). It'll bring tourism, economy etc.

[Crystal-Rose]

YES!
think of so many useful things they could do with that money which would make a difference to the world,

fair enough many people enjoy watching and althletes competeting in events such as the olympics, but to spend this amount of money just to watch someone run around a track and do a few long jumps and god knows what else, it all seems to me like the amount of money they are planning on spending could be spent to make a long term difference.

[Mrluvaluva]

But it is pushing up the price of my property quite a lot! lol

[James]

It does seem a waste of money, yes. I mean the Olympics will be great for the country but it only lasts two weeks and that is a lot of money for something that is so short.

They talk about a lasting legacy but most of the sports at the Olympics are minority sports which there won't be too much interest in afterwards. So what is the point building facilities that there will probably be of little use for afterwards? That is what happened in Athens.

They are going to build an 80,000 capacity stadium which will be only used during the games and then the capacity reduced to 25,000. They are trying to find a football club that will use it but only Leyton Orient is interested.

The over-spending reminds me of the Scottish Parliament building and Wembley wastes-of-money and you can guarantee that the £9 billion cost will increase.

[A_.Messenger.]

To see the government putting considerable enthusiasm behind the future of British sport is very encouraging to me. There are huge expenses wasted on a multitude of things by our government, an un-just war to name one, but when something like the renovation of wasteland being made into state of the art sporting facilities, it appears to be a step in the brightest direction.

As far as the Olympic competitive spirit is concerned, young Britons are no longer renowned for devoting their aspirations and ambitions towards becoming great athletes, if athletes at all. The younger generation is far more concerned with becoming a famous ‘pop star’, famous ‘actor’ or famous ‘TV personality’ and you can bet your last quid that the reason young Britons don’t aspire to become famous athletes is because the one thing that would be required is hard work, and this young generation is utterly adverse to hard work. This opportunity to host the Olympics is a great chance to influence a whole generation of young Britons to embrace sport, with an emphasis on the future in the fact that considerable funds are being put forward for the project, proving that sport after London 2012 can be part of their lives regardless of the standard of competition, now that more facilities are available.

Is anybody proud of Britain’s record in the Olympics? Are Britain underachievers in the Olympics?

Whatever your answers may be to the above questions, it is fair to say that Britain has a great sporting history. A history which is not reflected in modern times as well as many would like, but it is definitely still in the consciousness of the average Brit. 2012 could well be a turning point for better or worse. If the right steps aren’t taken to keep the national sporting attitude healthy at this juncture, it would be an opportunity spurned in my view. For all the talk there has been in the last couple of years about children eating healthy food and removing junk food from their diet, it doesn’t make much difference if children are still spending their youths messing around indoors playing on computers or staring at televisions. Millions if not billions of pounds get wasted on making television, something which has very little positive effect whatsoever, away from news and educational documentaries. If this country is going to waste money, wasting it on sporting facilities for our youngsters is the blue-prints for a Great British future.

[Sunny_01]

I think the spiralling costs of the Olympics are an absolute disgrace. We have such huge pockets of poverty in this country. The money that is being spent on these Olympics could go a long way towards reducing poverty, increasing beds in shelters, research for illness, fund the ever declining NHS.

How frustrated must people be that are now being turned down for essential drugs because of costs when Billions are being spent on the Olympics.