ACCORDING TO A DOCUMENT ON THE OLYMPIC BID SURVEY OF 22nd/24th OCTOBER 2004, PREPARED FOR THE GLA BY ICM RESEARCH, THE FOLLOWING DETAILS SHOW HOW THE QUESTION OF THE " FUNDING PACKAGE " WAS DEALT WITH.

FROM THE 7 MILLION PEOPLE IN LONDON ONLY 1,022 WERE TELEPHONED AND THE FOLLOWING QUESTION WAS PUT TO THEM :-

" THE MAYOR OF LONDON AND THE GOVERNMENT HAVE AGREED A FUNDING PACKAGE FOR THE 2012 OLYMPIC GAMES. UNDER THIS PACKAGE NO PUBLIC MONEY WILL BE SPENT ON ACTUALLY STAGING THE GAMES, BUT WILL BE INVESTED IN IMPROVING TRANSPORT AND OTHER INFRASTRUCTURE AND ON BUILDING THE STADIUM VENUES. THREE QUARTERS OF PUBLIC MONEY FOR THE INFRASTRUCTURE IMPROVEMENTS WILL COME FROM THE NATIONAL LOTTERY AND A QUARTER FROM COUNCIL TAX IN LONDON. IT WILL COST THE AVERAGE LONDON HOUSEHOLD NO MORE THAN 38p PER WEEK. DO YOU THINK THESE PROPOSALS ARE :-

(A) A REASONABLE WAY OF FUNDING THE LONDON OLYMPIC GAMES.

(B) AN UNREASONABLE WAY OF FUNDING THE LONDON OLYMPIC GAMES.

FROM THE 1,022 THAT TOOK PART IN THIS SURVEY 636 THOUGHT IT WAS A REASONABLE WAY, WHILST 322 THOUGHT IT WAS AN UNREASONABLE WAY, WITH 65 DON'T KNOWS' ( yes, there is one extra but these are ICM figures).

IT IS WORTH NOTING THAT A BREAKDOWN OF THE 636 THAT THOUGHT THE FUNDING WAS SATISFACTORY SHOWS THAT ONLY 301 WERE IN "FULL-TIME EMPLOYMENT " - 237 WERE "NOT WORKING" - 58 WERE IN " PART-TIME WORK" - AND 39 WERE " UNEMPLOYED ". (1 short this time )

DOES THIS LOOK LIKE " OVERWHELMING SUPPORT " FOR THE 2012 OLYMPIC GAMES FROM 7 MILLION LONDONERS ?    AND HOW MANY WHO VOTED THAT IT WAS A SATISFACTORY FUNDING PACKAGE PAY A REDUCED COUNCIL TAX, OR NONE AT ALL ! ! !

SHARP EYED LONDONERS WILL NOTE THAT NOTHING APPEARS TO HAVE BEEN MENTIONED ABOUT LONDONERS HAVING TO PAY A SHARE OF ANY FINANCIAL LOSS THESE 2012 OLYMPIC GAMES MIGHT MAKE.            WONDER WHY THAT WAS - ANY IDEAS  ??

              SAY " NO " TO THIS "LONDONERS  ONLY" OLYMPIC TAX