London Olympics - "Its a Big Job Gov."

The government announced yesterday that the cost for staging the 2012 Olympics will be more than double the previous estimated cost.

Sports minister Tessa Jowell's confirmed that the expense of staging the Olympics would be far higher than thought when Britain was awarded the games in July 2005, latest estimates put the figure at nearer 9.3 billion pounds.

Defiant as ever Jowell said the government would find the extra 4.93 billion pounds to fund the games and urban regeneration and that nearly 1 billion pounds more would be needed from London taxpayers and the proceeds of Britain's national lottery. "The London Olympics are a project that will change Britain for the better, forever," Jowell told parliament.

Hugh Robertson, sports spokesman for the Conservative Party, attacked the government saying"The fact that the Olympic budget has almost trebled in just a year is a sign of massive financial incompetence from the government,".

We suggest that the government find an extra £10 for a decent calculator and possibly another £40,000 for a Quantity Surveyor, to replace the broken abacus and "finger in the wind" estimating that seems the preferred method of costing at the moment.