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HAVE YOUR SAY

DON'T LET US DOWN NOW, BROWN

Lord Moynihan is urging the PM to invest in Team GB

Monday August 18,2008

By Martin Evans

Comment Speech Bubble Have your say(21)

BRITAIN’S Olympic heroes last night urged Gordon Brown not to renege on his promise to give Government funding to help our athletes equal or better this year’s medal haul at the next Games.

Lord Moynihan, British Olympic Association chairman, urged the Prime Minister to invest £600million in order to give Team GB the best possible chance at London 2012.

He said Mr Brown had made the pledge when he was Chancellor, but the Association was now concerned he might renege on that commitment.

Britain is on course for a record medal haul at Beijing, but the BOA is already planning ahead and is determined to see our athletes perform well when the games come to London.

Lord Moynihan said the money was vital if Britain was to fulfil its true potential. “The success we’ve had here in Beijing is based on Formula One preparation, on a world-class approach – and that means money,” he said.

“We need money consistently delivered in the future, but there has been a question about whether the £600million promised for sport by the Prime Minister will be delivered in full. Well, it must be.”

He added: “I am hoping that the Prime Minister will confirm that when he comes here to Beijing this week – I am hoping he says that there is absolutely no doubt Team GB will be fully funded to the tune of £600million that he announced as Chancellor in the budget two years ago.

“I am hoping on behalf of all our athletes that will be confirmed to be in place.
“It has to be there. You have to have consistent funding over a period of time – and six years is what we have campaigned for.

“The money must come. I can tell you that we are not going to go over budget.

“That figure was worked out very carefully to meet our aspirational medals target for 2012.
“All of us who have worked on that, including the Government, owe it to the athletes to make sure that money is in place.”

Jennie Price, the Chief Executive of Sport England, said she hoped the success of British athletes in Beijing would inspire a new generation of gold-medal hopefuls.
She said: “I congratulate Team GB on the stunning achievements of the Games so far and look forward to seeing more medal-winning performances in the next few days.
“We at Sport England are working hard with the sports to create a world-leading network of clubs and coaches so that talented youngsters inspired by our medallists have the opportunity to fulfil their potential.”

**SHOULD BROWN HONOUR HIS £600M PLEDGE TO TEAM GB?**

REFERENDUM ???

31.08.08, 3:31pm

I thought he was going to say "renege on his promise to hold a referendum". We've moved on have we ?
Funding for the EU, the EDA, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Palestine, Russia, Georgia, the A350 airbus, Zambia, China, Burma, the Wasting of Britain's Marshall Aid and etc......
Athletes may have to run for their money.

• Posted by: MERIT • Report Comment

SHOULD HE?

29.08.08, 2:52am

rhetorical question me thinks, but will he? maybe.. in a desperate bit to win the next election, but if labor gets elected I'm sure they will find a way to take it all back.

truth is the British athletes are where they are not because of their country, but in spite of it. just look at our schools and think of how many great athletes go un-discovered, un-nurtured.

hell just look at the levels of illiteracy leaving our academies and see how much we invest in each generation, labor scrapped grant and bursary systems unleashing a generation of minimum wagers on us, now they want to get them in the gym. lol

• Posted by: cor • Report Comment

DONT LET US DOWN??

24.08.08, 3:55am

Gordon Brown has let us down on everything else....he reneged on the EU referendum so why not this...promises, promises. He is a man of no substance...need i say more??

• Posted by: cocklesandeels • Report Comment

STILL BETTER THOUGH. JUST LOOK AROUND

22.08.08, 1:50am

Yes they have. We are now no different to the U.S.A. no choice, just a question of management. Read the posters on here. Feather and tar the incapable for living off £60 a week while never ccondemningthe multi and bbillionairesfleecing us in their tax havens.

• Posted by: brusselssprouts • Report Comment

DON'T LET US DOWN NOW, BROWN - HE HAS.

21.08.08, 7:42pm

The Blair/Brown Nulabour government has already let our athletes and other sportsmen down. They have continued the Tory policy of encouraging schools to sell off their sports fields to realise capital receipts. They have cut the central government support for local councils, forcing many to choose to close swimming pools to save money. They, even in the boom years, failed to support volunteers who struggle to keep various sports facilities open.

In other words as in every thing else, this government has payed lip service to supporting sports to help an obese nation get fitter, but faild to produce anything concrete in the way of real facilities.

• Posted by: RosieInLondon • Report Comment

AH DEAR

20.08.08, 11:47pm

£600m to Team GB?

The financial catastrophe Prudence has created means we'll probably be able to chip in about £1.34 and that left over funny foreign coin you put in the Christian Aid envelope.

• Posted by: ruhe03 • Report Comment