14/05/2012 Newsnight

Was this the biggest Greek myth of all, that they would ever make the

euro work? Ats politicians continue to talk in

Athens, across the channels of Europe, there is talk of exit. How

will they depart, and will they receive chaos this their wake for

the rest of us. We speak to a Greek cabinet minister, still waiting to

see if his services are required. And debate what the consequences

and calculation might be. As they look in Whitehall if the best

defence against contagion is growth, where will it come from.

The Government talks about rebalancing the economy, I have

learned even their own experts doubt more money in manufacturing

means more jobs. We will ask a Government minister

what the plan is. Another bloody day in Syria, we

report on how moderates on both sides are increasingly squeezed out.

And Olympic VIPs, it gets better all the time, we know about the

free tickets, the fancy hotels and the chauffeur drives, Newsnight

goes in search of the truth about healthcare on offer for tens of

thousands in the Olympic family. The markets plunged today, and

tomorrow morning the Greek President will make a last-ditch

attempt to form a Government of National Unity, but fresh elections

seem likely. Across Europe Central Bankers and politicians have

started to talk openly of a Greek exit from the euro. What are the

options on the table, and the calculation the players are making.

Will it be chaos, more muddle through, or could it actually work

for both Greece and Europe. There is nothing we journalists like for

more stirring the creative juice, than a whacky metaphor. You are not

alone if you think the woes of the single currency are a bit like a

maze, from which there appears to be no exit. Three months ago after

Greece got its second bail-out, many people, like the deposed

President Sarkozy believed the crisis was solved. Now we're back

in it, now the only way out seems like a Greek exit. There were

further talks in Athens, as the country separates into pro- and

anti-bail-out factions. The Greeks are leaving their home land into

the safe lands of Surrey or Knightsbridge. Many will still have

assets based in Greece. It points to confidence ebbing away, if it

does, Grex will come sooner than we think. -- grex it will come sooner

than we think. There is an acceptance that the Greeks will run

out of money, that the Government won't have enough to pay pensioners

and public sector workers. When it happens, there will be a run on the

system, and very quickly Greece will have to leave the euro.

policy maker is talking openly of that yet, you can bet it will be on

the menu privately, as eurozone finance ministers meet this evening

in Brussels. Some of their Central Bankers, notably those from Belgium

and Ireland, are already whispering aloud, what a eurozone minus Greece

might look like. One option is to create two parallel currencies, a

softer one used domestically for day-to-day things, and a harder one,

which would repay Greece's debts, denominated in euros. This is a

solution that would certainly have problems. It would allow the

economy to start to grow again. More to the point, allow it to be

able to operate still within the EU and the eurozone itself. Its

obligations aren't torn up immediately. If you tear up you

will the overseas obligations, the opportunity for Greece to go back

to the markets to raise money again or obtain debt support

internationally, is close to zero. This is a mechanism which provides

the best of both worlds, but still with very difficult mechanisms to

manage. Of course, there is a recent

example of a small country which decided not to repay its enormous

bank debts, despite heavy pressure to do so from the EU. Iceland's

banks collapsed under their own weight in 2008, Rick Vic said it

would allow them to go -- Reykjavik said they would allow them to go to

the wall. The Government decided to prioritise the domestic economy. It

refused to bail-out foreign bankers and creditors, and used the money

to support the domestic banking system and economy. It let banks go

to the wall? It let banks go to the wall, and let foreign creditors

take all the losses. Up until now the eurozone thinking has been

monochromatic, take your medicine or get thrown to the money market

dogs. Voters in France, Greece and recently Germany, have said that an

alternative third, or fourth way is required. Whether politicians have

the creativity or nouse to find those routes out of the latest

crisis is unclear. While talks continue in Greece, the

markets are very much in ris- -- risk-off morbgsd which means

Britain and Europe wait for a smaller eurozone.

The elections may have been over a week ago, but Giorgios

Papaconstantinou is still a Greek cabinet minister, for PASOK. We can

talk to him now about the efforts to cobble together a Government in

Athens. We have a Greek specialist from the your racialia group, and a

specialist in the debt -- your racialia group, and a specialist in

the -- The Greeks have to deliver millions of euros tomorrow, no

authorisation from the Greek Government to come, will it happen?

We will have to wait until tomorrow to see whether it will happen. It

is one of the hold-out bonds that did not participate in the exchange

offer. A decision needs to be made, and it will be announced tomorrow

whether that obligation is honoured or not. That is one of, only in a

sense, a side bar to the main event, as to whether or not you can

actually form a Government. All the talk today I gather, there has been

talk of a technocrat Government. What is what are the chances of

being able to pull that off? Well, as you know, these elections

produced a very fragmented result. Traditionally Greece, the first

party would get around 45% of the vote, the second one would get

around 40%. In this case none of the parties got over 20%. The

largest party got 19%. So, this is a very different result from what

we are used to. Discussions are on going at the moment, between the

leaders of the party, and the President of the Republic, to see

whether we can form a coalition. Because it is clear that it is time

for coalition politics in Greece. It is obviously in your interest to

make sure you don't have another election. Because the anti-bail-out

parties are growing their own votes. A latest opinion poll puts them at

20%. That makes them a considerable force, they won't do a deal with

you, will they? I think the interests of not holding another

election is perhaps not so much whether the anti-bail out parties

would go. It is because Greece is running out of time. We are running

out of money, and We need a Government as soon as possible. The

discussions today didn't produce a result. Hopefully they will be

resuming tomorrow, and hopefully we will manage to get a coalition. The

latest proposal on the table is that of a technocratic Government,

that would have the support of at least three parties, possibly four.

The conundrum here, look anything on Greece, is Greek people say over

and over that they want to stay in the euro, but they actual low want

to renegotiate the terms of the bail out again and again. These two

things are incompatible, it is a dream, it is a nightmare? Well,

indeed, in eight out of ten Greek people want to stay in the euro,

consistently, all the polls show that. But they are not prepared to

take a hit. They are not prepared to take the austerity measures they

need to talk. It doesn't make any sense? That is right. This is right.

This is the fifth year of a recession, people are hurting,

people are seeing their salaries cut by up to 40%, taxes have gone

up. One in two young people is unemployed, unemployment rates

overall is over 20%. So this is a vote of anger, it is a vote of

disillusionment, it is a vote of protest. It is not necessarily a

vote of rejection. It certainly isn't a vote that believes that the

programmes of these praerts will ever be implemented -- parties will

ever be implemented. The programmes of some of the leftist parties are

right out of the eurozone. Is the Iceland model of default hold any

attractions for Greece? No. We have had the biggest debt restructuring

in world history. We behaved 50 percentage points off our national

debt. But this was a debt restructuring, together with our

European partners and the IMF. It was a voluntary debt restructuring.

Which could happen only because our European partners agreed to

recapitalise the Greek banks, and help us in this sequence. We cannot

compare a country of 350,000 people, which is what Iceland is, with a

eurozone member of 11 million people. That has the same currency

as other countries. Megan, do you think that an exit, however chaotic,

muddled, whatever, is inevitable? do think an exit is inevitable, and

Greece could finally return to sustainable growth if it were to

exit the eurozone. Choreography is key. It is no in nobody's best

interests to have a disorderly exit. From your point of view, you keep

kicking the idea of austerity into the long grass, longer and longer,

and that in itself becomes a strategy? It has been a strategy

for the last two years. The reality is that Greece, with the second

bail out has managed to get more funding than the first bail out.

The axe page needs to be renegotiated, and I think that from

a troika side, there is a willingness to renegotiate the

package on the margin. For that we need a workable Government. And now

in Greece we don't have one. What chance of finding one? PASOK, they

are not going to make it without the marginal parties, and the

marginal parties are gaining ground and they are anti-bail out? You are

right. The chances of creating a Government during these rounds of

talks is fairly slim, most likely we are heading for a second

election. There is a risk it could be equally inconclusive. If it is,

then you head towards the end of June, where you are to be prepared

to put the austerity measures in place to get the bail out that the

country needs to pay pensions and workers? That is right. The take-

home message is it almost doesn't matter if Greece puts a Government

together in the next two days, or the next election, whatever happens

the coalition won't be sustainable. And Greece will head to elections

again by the end of the year. the talk is of contagion, where do

you think the worst hit will be? have already seen t the worst hit

will go straight to Spain. That is why the troika will be willing to

play ball with whatever Government arises in Greece. The troika has no

interest in Greece defaulting and leaving the eurozone now, when

Spain is right in the centre of this crisis is. We have seen as

drama has arisen out of Greece, bond yields in Spain has gone up.

We have seen direct contagion from Greece to Spain. Greece is one

question, but Spain is much bigger and more systemically important for

the eurozone. What is your analysis on Spain? I totally agree, the

circumstances and time play in favour of Greece, for the time

being. The moment in which you go for a euro exit, you break one of

the biggest taboos, that the euro is unbreakable. Once you create

that kind of precedent, you don't know what will be next.

difference is now that we have this kind of permanent financial

firewall, that will stop the spread, no? We don't have it yet. The EU

bail out funds have to raise the money. The IMF countries have

pledged the money but it isn't there yet. Spain is heading

straight for a bail out, it isn't quite there yet F Greece defaulted

and exited now, Spain would need a bail out now, and they don't have

the money in place. For all these reasons there is no question that

Greece will be allowed to go, there will be a negotiation between

Brussels and Berlin? As long as we see them still committed to the

core of the programme, and there is a willingness to negotiate on the

side, that is a key condition coming are from Brussels, and

specifically from Berlin. What do you think the view looks like from

Athens of the new French President Hollande, will that change the

atmosphere, do you think, in Europe? Giorgios Papaconstantinou,

do you think the election of President Hollande, who will meet

Angela Merkel tomorrow night, will change the atmosphere in Europe?

Yes, I think it will. Although I'm not expecting any miracles here. I

think it will shift the debate in Europe, and it will be much more

pro-growth, and realising the limits of austerity. But I don't

expect this to happen overnight. At the end of the day we still need to

implement the programme. We have gone a very long way. Remember at

the beginning of this drama, we were at a deficit of 16%, it is now

down to 9%. Our competitiveness had eroded over 12 years, we have

clawed back half of what we lost entering the eurozone. A lot of

structural reforms have been put in place. It is not as if Greece has

been doing the work, it is clearly we need more time and a Government

committed to doing this. I hope this is what will emerge. Either in

the talks tomorrow or right after the next election, through some

kind of coalition. Just before we go, difference in atmosphere, with

President Hollande? I think the eurozone leaders will talk more

about a growth strategy, that will help on the margins, it takes time

for a growth strategy to be implemented and feed into the real

economy, we don't have that time. Wednesday's unemployment figures

expected to hit a 13-year high at a whopping 2.75 million, are hardly

likely to do anything to alleviate the gloom generated by the

eurocrisis, and the failure to generate growth in the British

economy. Is there anything more to be done to help get the British

economy moving, and are we looking for growth in all the wrong places.

Allegra Stratton has more on the debate inside and outside the

Government. A factory, some where, anywhere in

the United Kingdom. Honest work for honest folk, not

for horny-handed sons of toil, but financial engineering that toppled

economies, real engineering, to engineer real growth. They call it

"rebalancing the economy". It is really tough, hard, Spain taking

work, getting our economy to grow - - painstaking work to get our

economy to grow, but it must be the right thing to try to deliver

growth based on real hard work and effort, proper jobs, proper

manufacturing, proper industry, based on the fact that Government

can't go on spending and borrowing beyond its means. This is our plan

for growth, we want the words "made in Britain", "created in Britain",

"designed in brain", to drive our nation forward. A Britain carried

aloft by the mark of the makers, that is how we will support jobs

and families. The rebalancing of the economy may not be that

balanced afterall. Two academics have written this paper for the

Cabinet Office, leak today Newsnight. In it they say

manufacturing is a very poor source of employment, it yields very few

jobs, they warn them off that as an emphasis for the rebalanced economy.

This is for the Foresight Office, looking at trends in the British

economy for the next 20-80 years, the March of the makers may have

few -- march of the makers may have The march of the makers won't

happen in employment terms. It is important for some manufacturing,

exports, manufacturing is still useful for that. We won't see large

numbers of people turning up at the factory gates at 9.00am, any time

soon. Clearly what is the right way to

rebalance the economy is a debate people are just turning up to, but

that debate is much further along the production line in the state of

the UK's economy right now. On the backbenches, Tory MPs hope that

George Osbourne uses any meltdown in the euro as cover for radical

change, tax cuts and a concerted push for deregulation, getting the

pissen tos working in the factory of the British economy. Until that

point the debate within the machinery of Government is a bit

more nuanced. There are those in Government that think not much can

be done apart from sit back and watch events on the continent

unfold, then there are others who vehemently disagree with, that they

think there are things senior Lib Dems and Tories can do and they can

get together for a grand push on growth.

There will be quad meetings on the economy, where most of the big

decisions on the economy are taken, the first push is in construction.

As Newsnight reported last week, there is expected to be a new push

to use the historically low rates of borrowing the Government

currently enjoys, to guarantee spending h this time on

construction. Whenever �1 pound spent on housing creates �1.9 in

income and economies. People spend the money and wages go up. The most

important thing is money stays in the economy. Construction, unlike

other things, is actually done on the spot, if you like. There are

longer term imfact pacts to it. It allows -- impacts to it, it allows

people to have access to skills. And it doesn't create any inflation

either, because there is a lot of spare capacity around to build

those houses. There are people unemployed with all those skills,

that could be made available very easely all this is actually very

good for the economy. William Hague once said the euro

was like a burning building with no doors. This Government will hope

any new generation of hours -- hours will fire proof the economy.

I spoke to Mark Prisk earlier, the Business Minister.

The Office of Budget Responsibility and the Bank of England are quite

clear that the biggest threat here is the crisis in the eurozone to

the economy. Is this Government doing enough? I think we are

convinced that, first of all, the eurozone countries themselves need

to make sure they resolve some of that urn certainty. Here in the UK

we are -- uncertainty, here in the UK we are making sure we are a more

competitive place to grow business. Are we doing enough? I think we are

taking the right steps, do I think we could do more, absolutely, I

used to be in business, that is my ethos. The Government has pursued a

vision that manufacturing would be the engine of recovery and growth,

it hasn't happened? That is a negative view. We have seen over �4

billion of investment coming into the automotive sector alone. Very

important investments, good for jobs and productivity, exports up.

That's all good signs. It is the same with Aerospace, we represent a

fifth of all aircraft that leave Toulouse, as Digby Jones likes to

point out, a fifth of all that value comes from the UK. We have a

good manufacturing base, and we need to grow it further. Are you

happy with it so far, a document written for the Cabinet Office says

manufacturing doesn't deliver jobs. Look at the autoation in the

factories, is not jobs it delivers, it is not jobs? First of all, you

are seeing some businesses that went to China to manufacture coming

back to the UK. You showed the textile businesses come back to the

UK. Just as importantly, of those large business, that is the area we

have worked hard. One of the big problems is a skills shortage in

manufacturing. Whilst natural leer we are all concerned for the

unemployed. We have been working hard to increase training and the

support for apprenticeships. very thing that you are saying,

there is a skills shortage. This very same paper said actually

manufacturers is a very harsh industry for low-skilled work --

workers, and it is hard to maintain employment? Manufacturing is the

wrong target and you have bet on the wrong horse?

I don't believe manufacturing has changed and it is about wider

skills and talents. The fact that manufacturers are saying they need

more skilled people coming into the work force. Is isn't that why we

were right to build up the apprenticeship numbers. The last

Government have ignored that, we have been making sure we have

record numbers of apprenticeships. You talked at the beginning about

the eurozone crises, the eurozone is the main export market, they

won't anybody a position to buy anything? They are struggling in

main -- They won't be in a position to buy anything? They are

struggling and the Governments are struggling. But we shouldn't be

wholly negative that nobody will export to Europe. We need to look

at the position outside Europe, the position is encouraging. We have

seen an increase of 23% in exports to countries outside the eurozone

against 2010, it shows we are reaching new markets. Now the

Government is training its sights on construction, are you doing

enough in construction? We are doing a lot. Is it enough? I think

the last three or four years, I'm a chartered surveyor, I know this

industry well. This has been a tough three or four years in

construction. Is it recession? have to recognise that many parts

of that sector have been receding, not all. You look at the latest

figures on the new part of private sector housing, that did improve in

the last set of statistics. The question you asked is are we doing

enough, can we do more. What I would say to you is the National

Infrastructure Plan, a �200 billion plan, very important for

infrastructure, put anything half a billion for the Building Britain

Campaign, very important, just starting at the beginning of the

year, showing its colours later in the year. The work I was doing

today, at the Building Research Establishment, a really good centre

of excellence, remember leading wait. Are we going to see more,

minister, for construction in the next few weeks, or not. Will we see

more initiatives or not? Let me tell you what I have done today.

Are we seeing more things? We have announced today a million pounds

extra to keep the UK's competitive advantage in green construction.

million? That is to develop the programme so the market can be

created. It is �100, �1 billion programme in terms of the market.

We are making sure we are putting in the seed corn to make it happen.

Today the violence continued in Syria.

All lack Akbar, Allah hu Akbar. Unver vied fighting showed --

verified fighting in Al-Rastan. There are reports of 30 lives lost.

A human rights group says 23 Government soldiers were also

killed in what appears to be an attempt to retake the town. It is

easy to forget this uprising began as a peaceful protest. As we have

found on the most recent trip to Syria, voices of moderation are

being drowned out by the escalation in violence.

The old city of Damascus. Syria has always been famed for the kindness

of its people. It is what I have seen in the many

years since I have been coming here. The Syrians are so beautiful, the

juice seller things, like the rose in Jasmine. Stkpwhrs it is what

makes the current violence so shocking.

It is easy to forget it began as a peaceful protest.

Welcome to Damascus. Those voices are still there. Last

month this woman stood alone outside parliament, holding a

banner "Stop the killing". Passers by stopped to applaud her message.

The authorities detained her. Her act of bravery became something

much bigger. They now call her the Woman in the Red Dress.

TRANSLATION: The main thing is it sent a message to everyone that

they can make a change, no matter how small. It start off as a scream

of anger, it spread widely. Even gathering people who support the

regime. We all want to stop the killing, and build a Syria for call

Syrians. How much hope do you have this will be resolved peacefully?

TRANSLATION: Hope is not something abstract for us. When we help each

other there is hope. When we try to open dialogue, to build bridges

with people who have different views, we have hope. We look for

hope, day in, day out. Shortly after we met her, she was detained

again. Everywhere I go, regime supporters

talk to me about the need to save Syria. But the Government has now

unleashed a new campaign of arresting intellectuals and

activists, as if everyone is a threat.

Footage sent by citizen activists are an effort to show what they say

is still a one-sided war. Leyla is one of them. She was

recently released from detention, and still believes only peaceful

solutions will work. There are some people now who say Syria is in the

midst of a civil war? No, no it is not. It is still regime-versus -

people. If it is regime-versus-the people, what percentage are

peaceful protestors? A very large percentage. The estimates of the

Free Syrian Army is thousands, maybe tens of thousands, there are

hundreds of thousands of activists and people on the ground. Far, far

more. I know weapons seem louder, and they are more attractive for

news, and so on. But it is definitely, definitely still much

more peaceful than not. There are moderates on the other

side too. They speak of gradual, peaceful change. But with every

explosion, their fear grows, that Syria stands to lose more than it

gains, as the country is remade. have three news correspondents in

the bureau. This man has Government approval to set up a bureau for a

new TV channel. He says they will try to tell a different story.

are definitely against foreign intervention in Syrian affairs, we

are against a military solution in both ways. Coming from either side.

We want a political solution that is based on the right of every

civilian to be able to express his views. But his own worry now is

security. It is making people feel Syria is not the same any more.

Tasting coffee in the morning is not the same any more. I think this

is, to us, the main concern. Our own security, the security of the

country, the future of the state. But to preserve itself, the state

doesn't want to disturb the present order, it want to keep things the

way they are. Changing as little as possible. For all the talk of

reform, the political space just isn't opening.

This man tried to play by the rules. Last year President Al-Assad

invited him to take part in a political dialogue.

Today he showed me pictures of his two sons, arrested last week. He

said no news, except others detained with them told him they

had been tortured. TRANSLATION: It's not easy to lose

two members of your family. And it's not just my children. The

whole country is in agony, my personal pain is the country's pain.

Do you worry, it has been 14 months, and every month that passes, there

is more guns, more explosions and the voices like your's, calling for

peaceful protest, are getting drowned out, getting smaller?

TRANSLATION: Violence only leads to violence. Blood only leads to blood.

But when you see the amount of violence by the regime so far, we

haven't seen a proportionate reaction by protestors. When your

sons and brothers and interests sisters are killed, you can't blame

people who take up arms, only angels would refrain.

No-one wants to lose what is good about this country, so many still

hope it can be done. But after so much violence, views

are hardening. The maximum of one side still isn't

even the minimum of the other. If they don't reach a middle ground,

everyone stands to lose. The latest batch of Olympic tickets

goes on sale this week, but there is one group who won't be sweating

it out on the telephone booking line, there will be a record number

of Olympic VIPs in London this summer. We already know about the

free tickets, the transport, the accommodation perks they will get,

but priority access to healthcare, that is a new one. Newsnight has

been investigating claims from senior doctors that members of the

called "Olympic Family", will receive special access to the most

experienced NHS staff, if they fall seriously ill during the games.

The greatest show on earth is on the way. 10,000 athletes will soon

be landing in London. On board with them, sporting

officials, team members, and sponsors. Anden extra 25,000 VIPs,

-- an extra 25,000 VIPs, a record number. While the public can expect

queues and crowds this summer, that elite group, the called "Olympic

Family", will get to see a very different side to the games.

The full red carpet treatment, from booking out the best London hotel,

to skipping the queue at Heathrow Airport. None of this for the

Olympic Family, they will get special dedicated lanes through

passport control. And, if an accident happens, or they fall ill,

well the VIP treatment doesn't stop there, thousands of dignitaries and

sponsors will get free healthcare this summer. But it is the deal

they will get at hospitals like this one in central London, that

has some doctors ringing their alarm bells. Most of those Olympic

VIPs will get free private treatment, at their hotels and the

stadium site. But, if they need extra emergency care, they will be

sent on to one of three NHS hospitals. Newsnight has seen e-

mails between doctors at the largest of those hospitals, UCLH in

central London. It is clear, as far as they are concerned, all of those

Olympic VIPs are to be given the kind of attention, the kind of 24-

carat service, that most of us can There are worries about the impact

of rushing consultants to Olympic Family patients within 30 minutes

All this at a hospital where the typical wait for treatment is

almost an hour-and-a-half. I think it is completely

unacceptable, and it is morally wrong. The idea of they will being

able to see a senior consultant, rather than whoever happens to be

on duty in the A&E department is completely unjustifiable. It is so

wrong, I cannot even imagine it is happening. In fact, neither could

LOCOG, the organisers of London 2012, when we put the doctors' e-

mails to them this morning. They dismissed them and the 30-minute

arrangement, as an urban myth. That is despite another Olympic hospital,

designated to handle Olympic NHS London, given extra money to

meet healthcare during the games, told us the same thing, that was at

2.00pm this afternoon. By 5.00pm, three hours later, that message had

mysteriously changed. NHS London called to say the 30-minute promise

was actually just part of an early draft. They are now, tonight, in

the process of issuing new final guidance, which will not include

that guarantee. UCLH, the hospital where those

concerns were raised, said they are putting aside four beds, especially

for Olympic Family members, they claim no VIP will get preferential

treatment. This evening they stressed there is no 30-minute

fast-track deal. But healthcare is only one area where there are

worries that Olympic VIPs could be getting special treatment this

summer. Just minutes after the capital was awarded the games, Seb

Coe was handed the copy of the host city contract to sign. This, though,

is the short version. The full thing runs to more than

3,000-pages. A list of terms and conditions, drawn up by the

International Olympic Committee. But all this was only made public

after a two-year fight by Freedom of information campaigners. We know

that Olympic VIPs and top sponsors will get free, chaufer driven

transport this summer. More than 3,000 BMWs are being provided to do

just that. They will travel in special traffic

lanes to and from the Olympic site in the East End of London. So s

after speeding through immigration at eet throw, VIP -- Heathrow,

those VIPs will be able to shuttle from the hotels to the games and

back, all to a standard set out in 2005, as part of that massive

contract. In any sport you have to say that

anybody coming over, at that level, has to be treated like honoured

guests, but they don't have to be treated like gods. It might all

feel some way from the Olympic ideal, to play sport at the service

of human kind. The International Olympic Committee...But One of the

key figures behind London's winning bid, says that, taken as a whole,

cities have to agree to the IOC's terms and conditions, if they want

to be taken seriously. The City of London! There will be some people,

I have no doubt, who will look at this and say that the people in

positions of authority in the Olympic movement, and across world

sport are getting treated quite royally. That is the level of he

can specktation in world sport. If we hadn't committed to delivering

that, as part of the bid process, which is a requirement of the IOC,

then, frankly, the bid would have failed.

�9 billion of tax-payers' money has been spent, building the venues for

this summer's games, so the argument goes, it make sense to

treat those 20,000 VIPs well this summer. Afterall, they will decide

where future world and European Championshipss are held. But did

London promise too much, did we go too far, and spend too much.

It is a kind of moral obligation of a host city to reveal the excesses

of these demands from the likes of the IOC. To make a bit of a fuss

about it, to push back and to try to improve the game for the next

round of bidding cities. Is London and the bid organisers, are they

pushing back hard enough at the moment? I don't think so. I think

there has been too much timidity, to be honest, amongst the

organisers of the London Olympics. This summer might leave a sporting

legacy, it should leave some impressive infrastructure, it could

be even on budget, but it won't shine much light on the special

treatment reserved for 25,000 members of the Olympic scam family,

or the hoops cities have to jump through to host the world's most

prestigious party. We haven't received a response from

the Department of Health, but NHS London have stressed to us tonight,

that treatment in A&E is always a clinical priority first, this

applies to everyone. And LOCOG, the London organising commity of the

games, says this -- committee of the games, says this is in place

for the entire Olympic Family, including operational groups like

the BBC, to provide emergency meddle ka, not preferential

treatment for our clients. Frank Dobson is with us, and Jim White a

sports writer is joining us. Frank Dobson, this seems to be a

complete mess, of course athletes who are in trouble and need urgent

medical attention should have it, of course they should. 25,000

members of the Olympic Family, we are not sure what has happened, we

are told the homen to hospital is talking about having this --

hommerton hospital is talking about having this 30-minute tart. I have

heard of an extended family, but 25,000 people is rather a lot. We

need to look after the athletes and make sure the athletes can get to

every venue on time, not like the mess in Atlanta. I think most

people would agree we need to provide for the at lots if any of

them do get -- athletes, if any of them do get injured. The idea of

providing privileges access to healthcare, for 25,000, most of

whom ought to be staying in their own country any way. We saw these

e-mails from clinicians, who were saying there is a conflict of

interest, if they are designated senior consultant in A&E, and they

have to hit somebody at 30 minutes. What happens to an NHS spate they

may be waiting to see with a big problem, afterall it is A&E? I know

some of the A&E consultants at University College Hospital, one of

the finest hospitals in the world. I don't think they will say, I'm

sorry, Sepp Blatter, we will look after your broken finger, when

somebody has a serious injury from Camden Town. It is a bit of a mess?

Let's put it into perspective. There is not 25,000 people, all

coming over at the same time requiring emergency treatment on

their hernias. Not even if you con sume the sponsor's product are you

likely to get that. They are denying preferential treatment, but

the point is the principle? It may be a principle, but it is not

likely to happen. Let's actually get this straight. They will

probably have to deal with maybe two or three people who have

overdosed on Coca-Cola, that is about it. Just imagine something

else, UCHL are putting four beds aside, the NHS provide a �1.8

million. Why not BUPA and one of the other companies sponsor

healthcare. Why should the NHS have to do anything? Indeed. They have

said it will be at hotels and chances there, this is the final

back up, if they supped too much champagne, or their spine has gone

from sitting sue pine in their fantastically leisurely seats in

the stadiums, they will have to be put back upright. Let's put it into

perspective. What is more interesting about the contract

signed on behalf of the British people, is the amount of stuff

coming on to the statutes. If you try to get some coverage for the

wrong kind of people. The people who aren't sponsoring you,

commercial, it is not a commercial thing, it becomes part against the

state's law. That is much more worrying than having Sepp Blatter's

broken toe being fixed. Are we bending over backwards by producing

all this free stuff, not for the athletes but the family? But it is

all, like the special lanes, so that Sepp Blatter can get

from...Poor Sepp Blatter he's getting it? There is nothing poor

about plait Blatter, most football fans think he should be offered

euthanasia at University College Hospital! The idea, all these ideas,

just show what a set of pufd up, self-important people they are. It

is the same as people running football as the Olympic Games, they

take the sport, which is wonderful, it brings it into some disrepute,

really. According to the Times, the Civil Service getting in on the act.

This is denied by the Government, Whitehall hall tell staff, stay at

home for the summer. Civil servants have been told they can work from

home for seven weeks during the Olympics? That is presumably

because of the traffic chaos in London. In my constituency, round

Russell Square, there will be coaching, it will be the pick-up

point for the journalists to get in the coaches, to go on the special

lanes out to Stratford and everywhere else. We are the

important people, we have got to be there. I would agree with Jim on

that. I would remember they got to the thing they are commentating on,

rather than just speculating from a distance. Thank you both very much

indeed. Tomorrow morning's front pages now. The Financial Times,

faith fading it eurofirewall is the That's all from Newsnight tonight,