Harriet, you are wrong.

http://www.labour.org.uk/olympics-are-fantastically-important-for-london-and-country,2012-02-29

No Harriet, you are wrong. The Olympics are important only to business interests, corporate hospitality industry and the media.The largest part of the people in this country will only see the extravaganza, the excesses and waste. They will see the costs, rising everyday, being funded from government coffers while more cuts in services, pensions, salaries and jobs are imposed, as the  "Because We can't afford it" argument is trotted out of Whitehall. At the same time, rising prices will rise even faster as real incomes fall. We, the British people will be paying for this Olympic madness for years as every other host nation has found to their long term costs.