Olympics

I have read a whole lot of positive and negative stuff about the London 2012 Olympics. So I thought that I would put my own thoughts down.

I am a great supporter of the Olympics, and I think, in principle, it is a great thing for London to have them this year. They are the premier sporting competition globally, and it is a wonderful that we can show that we are able to put this event on. What is more, I think that in this difficult time of economic recession, we have done a fantastic job putting this together. I can only hope that the sporting aspects are as good.

However there is an issue that keeps raising its head, and that is the Brand Nazis, LOGOC, who are taking a very negative attitude to anyone using the logo or name. What is more, the sponsors are taking a similarly drastic approach to any competition. I think this is all very unfortunate.

The was a chance here, it seems, to bring a lot of money into the UK economy, and bringing money to a range of businesses across the country. As it is, a lot of the tourist money will end up being taken by the big corporate sponsors. That is wrong. This money will largely go out of the country and out of the economy here. If it was more spent locally, spent with businesses who have the imagination to make something of the Olympics, and sell to the visitors. That would be very British - we are a nation of shopkeepers, surely. There is a danger, it seems to me, that most of the people who come here will only ever experience the Olympics, and never experience Britain.

I am very proud of my country. I think we have a lot to offer people who come to visit. I worry that the corporate nature of the games means that many of the visitors only ever get the corporate image, the corporate British experience, and never get the real, authentic experience. I think they miss out on what we are really about. If every Olympics is the same, with the same corporate sponsors, the same brand enforcement, then I would ask why it matters where the event is - it will be the same anywhere. And we lose the uniqueness of having a games in this country rather than anywhere else.