OK, so today the government announced that there was a 20% chance that the cost of the Games would overrun Budget. Thank you Ms Jowell - let's be fair what Budget we are talking about - I enclose a copy of the one currently in use - please note the omittance of legacy costs and inflation amongst other things. Also note that this includes £2 billion (more than 25% of the stated costs) while the "extra" £1 billion of this fund has been ingnored. Perhaps that will quietly be expended (did I hear the words "slush fund"?).
I'll give odds of 3 to 1 that the Budget will over-run - if the government has the honesty to declare all the expenses involved in preparing the ground, constructing the venues and then ensuring that the items constructed are made available to the public after the Games are over.
As a retired accountant I would have been in serious trouble in my working life if, in preparing a budget, I announced that I would require a contingency fund of 25% and that it would probably be used - without explaining how and why it would be required. Is this the level of accuracy that Gordon Brown used to prepare his Annual Budget for the UK when he was Chancellor?
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