0:00:01 > 0:00:03Britain's back and open for business, the Prime Minister's
0:00:03 > 0:00:10rallying call for foreign investment. But, with the economy
0:00:10 > 0:00:13shrinking, who is willing to buy into us?
0:00:13 > 0:00:17A taste of what brand Britain can be, we can do the showbiz, but
0:00:17 > 0:00:22where is the business. The Mayor of Rio, and the Brompton Cycles, are
0:00:22 > 0:00:28here to tell us what is needed for success.
0:00:28 > 0:00:34The excitement is growing so much rb, -- so much, the geiger counter
0:00:34 > 0:00:39of limb mania is going to go off the scale. He's certainly excited,
0:00:39 > 0:00:46what about the rest of us. Is London 2012 the best hope of
0:00:46 > 0:00:50reviving our economic hopes. The edge for Olympic goal. The ruling
0:00:50 > 0:00:55bodies say what is allowed, in terms of physics, anything is
0:00:55 > 0:01:01possible as long as the rules of physics allow that. Who are the
0:01:01 > 0:01:10Syrian rebels, who is funding and arming them? We are on the Turkish
0:01:10 > 0:01:15border to investigate. Good evening, Big Ben bathed in sunshine, crowds
0:01:15 > 0:01:19along the Mal, the royals doing their royal thing at Buckingham
0:01:19 > 0:01:23Palace, although in branded sports wear, Britain has rarely looked
0:01:23 > 0:01:27better. Most would see the country at the top of its game tonight. But
0:01:27 > 0:01:30behind the pomp lies a nation still reeling from the latest shocking
0:01:30 > 0:01:36growth figures evidence and a still deepening recession. And today
0:01:36 > 0:01:41David Cameron invited, some might say, pleaded with, to buy into
0:01:41 > 0:01:47Britain, foreign investors. Paul Mason, what is going on? Before we
0:01:47 > 0:01:50go on to that, there is moving news in Europe, the boss of the European
0:01:50 > 0:01:55Central Bank, Mario Draghi, made a speech, where he said these words,
0:01:55 > 0:01:58I will read them to you, "The ECB is ready to do whatever it takes to
0:01:58 > 0:02:01preserve the single currency, believe me, it will be enough".
0:02:01 > 0:02:06Translated, that means they will buy up the bonds of the striken
0:02:06 > 0:02:11countries, Spain and Italy, or even lend to the bail out fund so it can
0:02:11 > 0:02:14do unlimited bond buying itself. If that happens, that is the big Baz
0:02:14 > 0:02:21sook ka we have all been waiting for. That is why all the markets
0:02:21 > 0:02:26rose in Europe today. It is a big if, although Draghi holds the bass
0:02:26 > 0:02:29sook ka, it is the German parliament who holds the projector,
0:02:30 > 0:02:34they have never agreed to do it before. It may be turning point. We
0:02:34 > 0:02:37don't know. Here in Britain we have been asking ourselves, how is it we
0:02:37 > 0:02:44can stage the incredible thing we are about to see, and yet we can't
0:02:44 > 0:02:48grow our economy. The quest for answers began for David Cameron in
0:02:48 > 0:02:53the rose garden. It is the morning after disastrous news after growth,
0:02:53 > 0:02:55what is the best thing to do? Sit in garden and make a sales pitch to
0:02:55 > 0:02:58foreign investors. We have brilliant British companies they
0:02:58 > 0:03:03can partner with. Last year more businesses were set up in Britain
0:03:03 > 0:03:12than in almost any year in our history. We are a very
0:03:12 > 0:03:16entreprenurial country. I can even offer good weather today. This is
0:03:16 > 0:03:20the Britain millions are seeing as they flock to the city. The
0:03:20 > 0:03:27sunshine be lies a terrible fact. The economy just can't grow, even
0:03:27 > 0:03:33when it is pumped up with money from the Bank of England. David
0:03:33 > 0:03:37Cameron said he would carry on with Plan A+, which is more austerity,
0:03:37 > 0:03:40with more money printed by the Bank of England. Why are things so
0:03:40 > 0:03:44persistently bad, what is the blue sky thinking about putting it
0:03:44 > 0:03:48right? The missing bit of the recovery has been called
0:03:48 > 0:03:52rebalancing, lost jobs in local councils, replaced by new jobs in
0:03:52 > 0:03:55manufacturing. Growth in public spending replaced by private
0:03:55 > 0:04:00investment. There have been jobs created, including in the all-
0:04:00 > 0:04:05important car-making plants, that produce more than 10% of UK exports.
0:04:05 > 0:04:101100 were announced this week by Jaguar Land Rover. Since the new
0:04:10 > 0:04:14year, McCollateralen, Nissan, Vauxhall, and Honda, together with
0:04:14 > 0:04:18mid-size supply chain companies, announced about 8,000 new jobs. For
0:04:18 > 0:04:22the private sector as a whole, more than 200,000 jobs were created in
0:04:22 > 0:04:26just three months. So why are we still in trouble,
0:04:26 > 0:04:31some think it is not macro- economics, but microstructures,
0:04:31 > 0:04:35like the supply chains of almost successful factories that is the
0:04:35 > 0:04:40problem. The import content is sucked in to actually make the
0:04:40 > 0:04:43exports. That is the fundamental problem. If you look at the factory
0:04:43 > 0:04:49like Vauxhall Ellesmere Port, the fundamentally, for the last few
0:04:49 > 0:04:53years, been running a kit assembly operation, with a Brit content of
0:04:53 > 0:04:59about 12%. If that is so, then every Astra that you export sucks
0:04:59 > 0:05:03in the imports, and that's the problem of broken supply chains.
0:05:04 > 0:05:08help struggling firms, last month George Osborne launched what may be
0:05:09 > 0:05:12the last big tweak to Plan A, in the form of �08 billion, lent by
0:05:12 > 0:05:16the Bank of England to banks to get them lending again to business. But
0:05:16 > 0:05:21will it work? We hear quite a bit about small and medium enterprises
0:05:21 > 0:05:25that can't get finance. And they are what I think we have is what
0:05:25 > 0:05:29some would say is an excessive degree of risk aversion on the part
0:05:29 > 0:05:35of the banks. In my view the problem with the schemes so far is
0:05:35 > 0:05:43they are essentially subsidise to the banks to -- supsidies to the
0:05:43 > 0:05:50banks to lend more. But a sill subsidies to the bank doesn't mean
0:05:50 > 0:05:53they will lend. If the lending doesn't work, the fear is the
0:05:53 > 0:05:57economy will stagnate, you get growth but it is not spectacular,
0:05:57 > 0:06:02and jobs are part-time and low-paid. You can live with that for a while,
0:06:02 > 0:06:06as long as you don't have massive debts, but we do. Last November the
0:06:06 > 0:06:10Government was already forced to announce an extra �43 billion of
0:06:10 > 0:06:15spending cuts, for 2015 and 2016, just to maintain its target of
0:06:15 > 0:06:20balancing the book. But even these drastic measures were premised on
0:06:20 > 0:06:27achieving growth this year and decent growth next. That looks
0:06:27 > 0:06:31unlikely, what can they do? number thing I would actually do is
0:06:31 > 0:06:36incentivise manufacturing output by value-added-promotion. Rebate
0:06:36 > 0:06:43corporation tax, for people who manage organic increases in output.
0:06:43 > 0:06:47Give people an incentive to increase out put, because out--
0:06:48 > 0:06:53output, because output drags employment with it. It is not
0:06:53 > 0:06:58rocket science, we have a lot of skilled people, we have a creeking
0:06:58 > 0:07:01infrastructure, and a structural shortage of houses, it is simple,
0:07:01 > 0:07:05the Government should borrow more money at record low interest rates,
0:07:05 > 0:07:10and using that to invest in things like infrastructure, housing and
0:07:10 > 0:07:16getting the unemployed people back to work.
0:07:16 > 0:07:19For now, the world's rich and powerful, and their yachts, have
0:07:19 > 0:07:23come to London, to see the greatest show on earth. What is the secret
0:07:23 > 0:07:27of a successful exporting economy. I caught up with Mexico's Central
0:07:28 > 0:07:37Bank boss this morning. In the short-term there are no quick fixes.
0:07:38 > 0:07:38
0:07:38 > 0:07:42You have to go through the motions, you have to go through the process
0:07:42 > 0:07:46of stagnatisation. The strong message I have from Mexico is
0:07:46 > 0:07:48stagnation pays. Britain's options are, in truth,
0:07:49 > 0:07:54limited by what the financial markets will bear. But in the
0:07:54 > 0:07:57meantime, we are determined to have one heck of a party.
0:07:57 > 0:08:05What does it take to get business to invest here, and what do they
0:08:05 > 0:08:11get in return. With me here is Emerson Roberts, who heads fold
0:08:11 > 0:08:16away Brompton Cycles. And Eduardo Paes, the Mayor of Rio. And Gillian
0:08:16 > 0:08:22Tett joins us. You hear the case that David Cameron is making today,
0:08:22 > 0:08:28is it convincing, when you listen to that, as a foreigner, who has
0:08:28 > 0:08:31many businesses who you could be advising, is it convincing?
0:08:31 > 0:08:35Especially at this time it is a convincing message. I know the
0:08:35 > 0:08:40economic crisis has nothing to do with the Olympics, but when Britain
0:08:40 > 0:08:46brings the Olympics, when the Olympics happens in London, it
0:08:46 > 0:08:49opens, it shows again that this is the capital of the world. Because
0:08:49 > 0:08:56it is more open than other important cities. That you can come
0:08:56 > 0:08:59here and make business. You are saying we are the capital of the
0:08:59 > 0:09:05world tonight, you don't really believe that? I do, what are the
0:09:05 > 0:09:09two most important cities in the world, after Rio, just kidding, it
0:09:09 > 0:09:13is New York and London. Great Britain is more open than the US,
0:09:13 > 0:09:19so when you have a big event like that, I mean, it shows really that
0:09:19 > 0:09:24people can come here. But, OK, if businesses come to you, and say we
0:09:24 > 0:09:28want ideas of where to do business, round the world, how far up is
0:09:28 > 0:09:33London on your list, seriously? Seriously, I think it is a great
0:09:33 > 0:09:37place to do business. Unless you have to buy real estate. Again,
0:09:37 > 0:09:42Europe is going through a crisis, the developed world is going
0:09:42 > 0:09:47through a crisis. China isn't, India isn't, Russia isn't? It is
0:09:47 > 0:09:52not as bad as the developing world, the developing world is not as bad
0:09:52 > 0:09:56as developed world. Peru is not doing perfect, but it is going fine,
0:09:56 > 0:10:00compared to what is happening in Europe. But I do believe that at
0:10:00 > 0:10:05the moment, when you bring everyone in. That's how I see the Olympics.
0:10:05 > 0:10:08Gillian Tett, a slightly different view, sometimes, from Stateside,
0:10:08 > 0:10:12Mitt Romney who is in town today, once wrote that England was a small
0:10:12 > 0:10:20island, roads and houses are small, and it makes things the rest of the
0:10:20 > 0:10:23world doesn't really want to buy. think that certainly reflects a
0:10:23 > 0:10:28view of considerable pessimism amongst many people over here in
0:10:28 > 0:10:31America. You talk to American policy makers or economists or
0:10:31 > 0:10:37business leaders today about what is happening in the global economy,
0:10:37 > 0:10:41and Europe, in general, is seen as a pretty black spot. London and the
0:10:41 > 0:10:44UK until now have been viewed slightly differently, partly
0:10:44 > 0:10:47because, or primarily because it is thought that there is a Government
0:10:47 > 0:10:52there that has its act together. That it had a plan drawn up a
0:10:52 > 0:10:57couple of years ago, to tackle the debt. It has been implementing that
0:10:57 > 0:11:02plan. In stark contrast to even a country like the US, never mind the
0:11:02 > 0:11:05eurozone, where Governments have been less decisive. You say, up
0:11:06 > 0:11:10till now, is that changing as a result of yesterday's figures?
0:11:10 > 0:11:13There was a general concern, on the part of the US Government in
0:11:13 > 0:11:17Washington, who I have been speaking to recently, about the
0:11:17 > 0:11:21feeling that Europe is pressing ahead with austerity a bit too fast.
0:11:21 > 0:11:25A number of people would say that, in fact, the UK has been a little
0:11:25 > 0:11:28bit too aggressive in terms of its austerity actions. It does, at
0:11:28 > 0:11:32least, have plan. One of the things you shouldn't forget, is when the
0:11:32 > 0:11:37Government was elected a couple of years ago. There were people out
0:11:37 > 0:11:42there, big, powerful, bond investors who said the UK gilt
0:11:42 > 0:11:45market was sitting on a bed of nitroglycerin, it seemed they were
0:11:45 > 0:11:48heading towards a bond market crisis. That has been largely
0:11:48 > 0:11:52averted, because there is a Government in plan with a plan.
0:11:52 > 0:11:57Whether or not it is the right plan or not.
0:11:57 > 0:12:00I personally would echo the view of the IMF, that would say perhaps the
0:12:00 > 0:12:04austerity has been a bit too much. They could or should ease back. But
0:12:05 > 0:12:08above all else, they need to do so in a controlled way, that retains
0:12:08 > 0:12:12business confidence. If busys the UK Government does have a plan to
0:12:12 > 0:12:18go a bit easy on fiscal austerity, maybe introduce some stimulus
0:12:18 > 0:12:25measures, but at least it is part of a co-ordinated measure, that
0:12:25 > 0:12:29would help bolster things a bit. you think you build things no-one
0:12:29 > 0:12:34wants? I have to laugh at that. The USA has been the fastest-growing
0:12:34 > 0:12:39market in the last 12 months, that and Jaguar Land Rover, other
0:12:39 > 0:12:43British well known brands do incredibly well in the US. To be
0:12:43 > 0:12:51honest, I was in Rio a couple of years ago, doing a south American
0:12:51 > 0:12:54tour, effectively, looking fordom some distributors in -- for some
0:12:54 > 0:12:58distributors. It only takes two weeks out of the schedule to do
0:12:58 > 0:13:03that sort of trip. More interesting is what I learned from the guys
0:13:03 > 0:13:07leading the UKTI trip down to Sao Paulo. They were saying it is great
0:13:07 > 0:13:11you guys are down here, buff to realise that you are quite late in
0:13:11 > 0:13:14the game. That is what I want to know, you said fundamentally all it
0:13:14 > 0:13:21takes is a couple of weeks, but clearly for most British businesses
0:13:21 > 0:13:28it doesn't, most British businesses are not in Rio. Why not? It is a
0:13:28 > 0:13:33good qe, one statistic tis -- is a good question That is a good
0:13:33 > 0:13:39question, there are more regional headquarters for companies in Sao
0:13:39 > 0:13:44Paulo than Berlin, German companies. The trade balance between Brazil
0:13:44 > 0:13:48and England, it is so small. It has grown a little bit in the past two
0:13:48 > 0:13:51to three years, it is still really small. If you go to Brazil you will
0:13:51 > 0:13:56see lots of American companies a lot of German companies, Spanish
0:13:56 > 0:14:00companies, lots of them. Some Portuguese companies, but not many
0:14:00 > 0:14:03British. We are not alone, generally we don't push ourselves
0:14:03 > 0:14:07out into these big markets as easily as other countries?
0:14:07 > 0:14:10personal view is I think we have been spoiled by our historical
0:14:10 > 0:14:15associations with the Commonwealth. I think we saw that as our export
0:14:15 > 0:14:18markets. The growth markets now are Brazil, India, Russia, and markets
0:14:18 > 0:14:22where we are not very strong. do you think of that, Gillian, do
0:14:22 > 0:14:26you think there is a cultural inhibition here? I think the issue
0:14:26 > 0:14:30with the UK and Brazil is that there have been fewer ties
0:14:30 > 0:14:35historically than between other parts of Europe. What is crystal
0:14:35 > 0:14:39clear right now is British business needs to do what politicians told
0:14:39 > 0:14:42ordinary employees a couple of decades ago, get on their bike.
0:14:42 > 0:14:48They can't count on the eurozone providing growth at the moment.
0:14:48 > 0:14:51They will be lucky if they avoid being draged downwards by a nasty
0:14:51 > 0:14:54recession there. We need to widen their eyes and look at the emerging
0:14:55 > 0:14:58markets, Brazil, China, and the Middle East. They need to look at
0:14:58 > 0:15:01America. Because there are parts of the American economy growing.
0:15:01 > 0:15:07terms of what David Cameron is saying, briefly, how do you get
0:15:07 > 0:15:11those markets interested in Britain. What are we, on a non-eve of
0:15:11 > 0:15:15Olympics night, actually offering? I would imagine one of the most
0:15:15 > 0:15:19powerful things the UK is offering, is it is within Europe but not part
0:15:19 > 0:15:23of the eurozone. It is not being dragged down by those problems, and
0:15:23 > 0:15:27thus far it hasn't had a debt crisis. Let's hope it will continue.
0:15:27 > 0:15:32Very last word to you? It is incredibly easy to set up a company
0:15:32 > 0:15:38in Britain. We are very open n that sense. We went to Chile in the same
0:15:38 > 0:15:43tour I went on, Brazil and Argentina, they have high import
0:15:43 > 0:15:47tarrifs, Chile has a free trade agreement with the EU, it is much
0:15:47 > 0:15:52better to export bikes to Chile. We are open for business, it is just
0:15:52 > 0:15:56handing out that message. You get the dubious honour of
0:15:56 > 0:15:59getting the first guest in shorts. Olympic medal waiting for you off
0:15:59 > 0:16:04the set. If there is anything likely to get a British audience
0:16:04 > 0:16:08behind the Olympics, it is a national slagging off from an
0:16:08 > 0:16:13American politician. Mitt Romney, the Republican US presidential
0:16:13 > 0:16:16candidate, questioned the Brits preparation for the Olympics. He
0:16:16 > 0:16:23was slapped down quickly by the Prime Minister.
0:16:23 > 0:16:32The golden light went through London's landmarks on the last day
0:16:32 > 0:16:38of the run. We followed the flame. This is a tester of what you can
0:16:38 > 0:16:43expect if you have a ticket for the opening ceremony of the Olympic
0:16:43 > 0:16:46Games at Stratford tomorrow evening. It has emerged tonight that all the
0:16:46 > 0:16:51seats have been sold for the big launch, with punters balking at
0:16:51 > 0:16:56price tags of up to �2,000. It is understood that members of the
0:16:56 > 0:17:00Armed Forces and children will fill some of the empty places.
0:17:00 > 0:17:04I hope what people will see is, obviously, all the things they love
0:17:04 > 0:17:08about Britain's past, all the fingers they like about our history,
0:17:08 > 0:17:13our institutions, our culture, or contribution to world development,
0:17:13 > 0:17:17but I also hope they will see a very open country, and one that has
0:17:17 > 0:17:22an enormous amount to offer for future. People keep talking about
0:17:22 > 0:17:28the Olympic family. Perhaps they mean the Windsors, who have been
0:17:28 > 0:17:33publicly lending their support to the London Olympiad today. As has
0:17:33 > 0:17:36footballer, David Beckham, rejected by one leader of great brain,
0:17:36 > 0:17:42Stuart 'Psycho' Pearce, he's happily joining forces with another,
0:17:42 > 0:17:46to take part in a called "Hunger Summit", which will take place
0:17:47 > 0:17:51before the games end. I'm honoured to be part of UNICEF and be here
0:17:51 > 0:17:55today, voicing our opinions on malnutrition, because it is so
0:17:55 > 0:18:02important. Why are the eyes of the world -- while the eyes of the
0:18:02 > 0:18:09world are on our country. # Love is a burning flame
0:18:10 > 0:18:13# And it makes a fiery ring Like a flaming brandysnap of hope.
0:18:13 > 0:18:17The Olympic Torch, or rather torches, have been travelling the
0:18:17 > 0:18:22country in recent weeks. The passing flame has shed light on the
0:18:23 > 0:18:28extraordinary achievements of some of our fellow countrymen and women.
0:18:28 > 0:18:32Today it came to white City in west London, the home of Newsnight --
0:18:32 > 0:18:37White City in west London, the home of Newsnight and BBC Television
0:18:37 > 0:18:41Centre. That's the magic of the torch, it's bringing a little joy
0:18:41 > 0:18:47and wonder to this isolated community, which, let's face it,
0:18:47 > 0:18:50hasn't had much to do with entertainment for years.
0:18:50 > 0:18:55High five, come on, feel the love. Bruce a quick word for Newsnight,
0:18:55 > 0:19:00are you thrilled about this event? Don't I look thrilled, I have been
0:19:00 > 0:19:03waiting for this 84 years, I have finally done it, carried the
0:19:03 > 0:19:06Olympic Torch, thank you so much. But there is a danger that Sir
0:19:06 > 0:19:13Bruce will have to work into old age to pay for the games. That
0:19:13 > 0:19:17could go for the rest of us too. With apologies to Brucie and his
0:19:17 > 0:19:22classic game show, Play Your Cards Right, the initial price tag for
0:19:22 > 0:19:28the games was a comparatively modest �2.4 billion. Higher, higher.
0:19:28 > 0:19:31Only for it to go up to more than �9 billion, in 2007. Lower, lower.
0:19:31 > 0:19:38Last month, the Government said the cost was inching down. The games
0:19:38 > 0:19:42were coming in under budget to the tune of �476 million. Higher,
0:19:42 > 0:19:48higher. Ah yes, but MPs on the Public Accounts Committee say the
0:19:48 > 0:19:53final figure could go up again, to �11 billion. Tonight, the torch
0:19:53 > 0:20:00reached Buckingham Palace, met by the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge,
0:20:00 > 0:20:03in Team GB sports wear, bearing the manufacturer's logo. The problem
0:20:03 > 0:20:07with the games is they are unnecessarily expensive, we don't
0:20:07 > 0:20:11have all these different sports and all these specially-designed venues,
0:20:12 > 0:20:17then we have to commercialise them, we have to get sponsors, the
0:20:17 > 0:20:24sponsors are paranoid with everyone muscling in on it, with the Royal
0:20:24 > 0:20:29Family dressing-up in their gear. It is undignified and ridiculous.
0:20:29 > 0:20:33The London mayor biffed the American presidential hopeful, Mitt
0:20:33 > 0:20:43Romney, who downed the games. Romney wants to know whether we are
0:20:43 > 0:20:45
0:20:45 > 0:20:47ready, are we ready? Yes! Yes we are. Have a wonderful wonderful
0:20:47 > 0:20:51London 2012 thank you for your support.
0:20:51 > 0:20:56We to speak to LOCOG, the London Organising Committee, yet again
0:20:56 > 0:20:59they didn't want to be interviewed by us. Happily the Olympic minister,
0:20:59 > 0:21:03Hugh Robertson is with us. Thank you for coming with us, ahead of a
0:21:03 > 0:21:06busy day. Our economy is in dire need of a bright spark, and as we
0:21:06 > 0:21:11saw from the growth figures, yesterday. We are pretty desperate
0:21:11 > 0:21:16to find the right solution. Do you think that the Olympics can provide
0:21:16 > 0:21:20that touch paper? Yes, I. Do I think in a sense the Olympics has
0:21:20 > 0:21:24already given us one fantastic legacy, is that we undertook the
0:21:24 > 0:21:29largest construction project anywhere in Europe, to try to
0:21:29 > 0:21:34transform the largest area of industrial wasteland inside the M25
0:21:34 > 0:21:38into the Olympic Park. When you look at the GDP figures, everyone
0:21:38 > 0:21:42points to construction, and you would think that the Olympic Park
0:21:42 > 0:21:47hadn't even happened? The Olympic Park is the most magnificent
0:21:47 > 0:21:52calling card moving forward. The trick is to use in the years ahead
0:21:52 > 0:21:54to secure more business opportunities and contracts for
0:21:55 > 0:21:58business construction. David Cameron spoke of the lasting
0:21:58 > 0:22:02economic legacy, you have come up with a figure of �13 billion over
0:22:02 > 0:22:05the next ten years. Break it down, the quoted figures are a billion
0:22:05 > 0:22:11pounds from UK business conferences held during the games? Absolutely.
0:22:11 > 0:22:15There is a long programme, it is all done at Malboro House, and next
0:22:15 > 0:22:18door at Lancaster House, there is a programme right the way through the
0:22:18 > 0:22:24Olympics, of business conferences, of getting the world's top business
0:22:24 > 0:22:27leaders in the country. A billion pounds in three weeks? That is the
0:22:27 > 0:22:30realistic estimate, of contracts signed as a result, the estimate of
0:22:30 > 0:22:33contracts signed as a result of the games. �4 billion of opportunities
0:22:33 > 0:22:38for British business from embassy summits after the games? Absolutely,
0:22:38 > 0:22:43there is a programme called The Great Campaign, launched in the ten
0:22:43 > 0:22:46major markets, very successfully, it has been all over the New York
0:22:46 > 0:22:50subway and Los Angeles. Across the ten major markets. When will you
0:22:50 > 0:22:54add them up and tell us what they made? The Foreign Office said it is
0:22:54 > 0:22:58the most successful trade campaign they have ever seen, it has a good
0:22:58 > 0:23:03chance of raising those sorts of sums. You will know that when?
0:23:03 > 0:23:08years after the Olympics. These are, as you said in the introduction,
0:23:08 > 0:23:13ten-year figures. For a country in such dire economic constraints,
0:23:13 > 0:23:16there is huge marketing constraints, I'm looking at the wording you can
0:23:16 > 0:23:23use, the sponsorship after every event, banning smaller businesses
0:23:23 > 0:23:29to get in on the act. We have the royals wearing Addidas sweat
0:23:29 > 0:23:35shirts? They are wearing those because they are Team GB supporters,
0:23:35 > 0:23:39it is not a sports brand thing. Don't you wake up wondering what
0:23:39 > 0:23:43LOCOG will tell you what to do next? I won't, because LOCOG have
0:23:43 > 0:23:48been more successful than any other organising committee in the history
0:23:48 > 0:23:53of the Olympic Games, by raising �700 million from the private
0:23:53 > 0:23:56sector. That is a success story, it says a lot to foreign investors
0:23:56 > 0:24:01about our ability to attract sponsorship to major sporting
0:24:01 > 0:24:06events. It shows that every year from 201224 will be a major
0:24:06 > 0:24:11sporting event. Let's look at some of the sponsorship. We have covered
0:24:11 > 0:24:16on Newsnight the area of obesity, LOCOG has refused to engage with it.
0:24:16 > 0:24:20The games sponsored by Coca-Cola, McDonalds, Cadbury's, a lot fast
0:24:20 > 0:24:25food sponsors, they contribute 2% to the overall IOC income, and yet
0:24:25 > 0:24:30they have extraordinary dominance in the field? They do, but many of
0:24:30 > 0:24:33those sponsors also run fantastic grass roots programmes, they have
0:24:33 > 0:24:40healthy eating programme, and sport in schools programme, they have
0:24:40 > 0:24:45corporate responsibility programmes. But isn't it strange someone
0:24:45 > 0:24:49running with a fast food logo on it. You are happy that McDonalds will
0:24:49 > 0:24:53be ruling the school at the Olympics? I'm happy for them to be
0:24:53 > 0:24:58investing money in children's sports, getting people fit, and
0:24:59 > 0:25:02conducting their corporate responsibility programmes. Who will
0:25:02 > 0:25:07do the Olympic Torch, Mitt Romney? Fortunately it is not my decision,
0:25:07 > 0:25:11I'm not involved in it. There is nobody who has done as much for
0:25:11 > 0:25:15British sport, particularly as in recent times as Coe, I suspect he -
0:25:15 > 0:25:20- Sebastian Coe, I suspect he's not available, with other things on the
0:25:20 > 0:25:24night. If you look at the olympian with the greatest number of medals,
0:25:24 > 0:25:28it has to be Steve Redgrave. If the rebels of the Free Syrian
0:25:28 > 0:25:35Army, in and around Aleppo, lack weapons to match those of Bashar
0:25:35 > 0:25:37Al-Assad's forces, one thing they don't lack is optimisim. They have
0:25:37 > 0:25:44claimed victory in parts of the city after clashes in recent days.
0:25:44 > 0:25:48Who are the rebels, and who arms them?
0:25:48 > 0:25:54It is within range of Syrian artillery. Once a part of Syria,
0:25:55 > 0:25:57and today, the Turkish town of Antackia, serves as a safe haven
0:25:57 > 0:26:02for rebels fighting across the border. Place to recover,
0:26:02 > 0:26:07reorganise, and begin to plan their country's future.
0:26:07 > 0:26:10Rebels like this man, he left his home town of Hama, a few years
0:26:10 > 0:26:14after the regime massacred thousands of Muslim Brotherhood
0:26:14 > 0:26:18rebels there in the 1980s, and built a new life as a prosperous
0:26:18 > 0:26:28businessman in the United States. This year, a sense of guilt brought
0:26:28 > 0:26:29
0:26:29 > 0:26:32him back to his country. To fight for its freedom.
0:26:32 > 0:26:39He re-equipped this rebel battalion, partly from his own pocket, and
0:26:39 > 0:26:49became its commander, at the age of 52. I participate in so many fights,
0:26:49 > 0:26:53
0:26:53 > 0:27:01like including many cities. I enjoyed it. You enjoyed it?
0:27:01 > 0:27:07course. I would consider I spent the best six weeks in all my life.
0:27:07 > 0:27:13I was so happy to be there. I was so happy to be a part of it. I
0:27:13 > 0:27:17don't have this kind of guilt that I had, it's gone.
0:27:17 > 0:27:22This week, Syrian rebels like him celebrated one of their greatest
0:27:22 > 0:27:27victories yet. An advance into their country's second city, and
0:27:27 > 0:27:31trading hub, Aleppo, which up until recently appeared to be a
0:27:31 > 0:27:36Government stronghold. In a darkened house, just yards over the
0:27:36 > 0:27:39border in Turkey, Mahmoud was waiting to help some of the
0:27:39 > 0:27:43refugees, as they emerged through the nigh. This builder and his son
0:27:43 > 0:27:48have walked for hours, still keeping the Ramadan fast. He
0:27:48 > 0:27:53translates as they tell me why they flet Government militia.
0:27:53 > 0:27:59TRANSLATION: They killed, they burned their bodies, they burned
0:27:59 > 0:28:04some people who were alive, then they threw them in the street.
0:28:04 > 0:28:13Why is it all starting in Aleppo now. Because for a very long time,
0:28:13 > 0:28:19for a year, even after the uprising started, Aleppo was quite quiet?
0:28:19 > 0:28:25There is a lot of money in Aleppo. Most of the business people were
0:28:25 > 0:28:31partners with the regime. Or members of the regime. Those people
0:28:31 > 0:28:35it took them so long to get their families outside of the country, to
0:28:35 > 0:28:39transfer their money somewhere else, that is what took so long, and now
0:28:39 > 0:28:46there is no more money, and people are in a safe I can't remember
0:28:46 > 0:28:50outside the country. That is why the situation has changed.
0:28:50 > 0:28:55Now that the Government can't hold their cash, or their relatives
0:28:55 > 0:29:00hostage, they are free to declare their support for the uprise, and
0:29:00 > 0:29:09join their family in a Turkish refugee camp.
0:29:09 > 0:29:14Meanwhile, back in Aleppo, the Government was mustering its
0:29:14 > 0:29:20superior fire power for a return attack. Fighting wars costs money,
0:29:20 > 0:29:28and the rebels don't have much. 24 hours we estimated the
0:29:28 > 0:29:32ammunition we used of over $1.2 million.
0:29:32 > 0:29:35Here the rebel commanders are holding a crisis meeting, desperate
0:29:35 > 0:29:38to find ways of getting more cash and weapons. They have had little
0:29:38 > 0:29:42luck from the main opposition grouping, the Syrian National
0:29:42 > 0:29:49Council, which is funded partly by Saudi Arabia and Qatar, countries
0:29:49 > 0:29:54committed to arming the rebels. I have been told by one senior Syrian
0:29:54 > 0:29:57national council official, that there was a pause in fighting
0:29:58 > 0:30:01because mistakes were being made. Weapons were being passed to people
0:30:01 > 0:30:09who were not real revolutionaries, they were dealers, who were selling
0:30:09 > 0:30:13the guns on. The fear that weapons may fall into the wrong hands,
0:30:13 > 0:30:19including terrorist hands, is the reason why CID agents are said to
0:30:19 > 0:30:28be operate anything the area, trying to vet arms decision. They
0:30:28 > 0:30:34are collaborating with the General who is are more involved than they
0:30:34 > 0:30:44are said. Down the road, one Syrian rebel leader said he had received
0:30:44 > 0:30:48arms from a Turkish truck parked down the road. An opposition party
0:30:48 > 0:30:53member in Turkey has heard similar stories. They told us two or three
0:30:53 > 0:30:56times a week, between midnight and 5.00am, there are mini-buses and
0:30:56 > 0:30:58lorries bringing boxes. Sometimes they are escorted by military
0:30:58 > 0:31:01vehicles. We are getting information they are bringing
0:31:01 > 0:31:10weapons. It is not possible it could be done without the knowledge
0:31:10 > 0:31:13of Government. According to the rebels, those deliveries go mainly
0:31:13 > 0:31:17to battalions that support the Muslim Brotherhood. They say it is
0:31:17 > 0:31:22the dominant force in the Syrian National Council. And units like
0:31:22 > 0:31:29his, which aren't Islamist, are left out. The other parties who are
0:31:29 > 0:31:33apart from the SNC are not effective, they are not doing
0:31:33 > 0:31:41anything. The Muslim Brotherhood are getting money. They are getting
0:31:41 > 0:31:46money from the Arab countries, they are getting money from other places.
0:31:46 > 0:31:49They have money, and when you have money you have power.
0:31:49 > 0:31:52The SNC itself denies any discrimination in the use of funds.
0:31:52 > 0:31:57But the claim raises questions for western powers, which won't pay for
0:31:57 > 0:32:01arms, but do help the Syrian opposition in other ways. Britain,
0:32:01 > 0:32:05which last year unambiguously backed the main Libyan opposition
0:32:05 > 0:32:11group, the National Transitional Council, now, much more gingerly
0:32:11 > 0:32:16describes its would-be equivalent, the Syrian National Council, as
0:32:16 > 0:32:22just "a", not "the" legitimate Syrian representative of the people,
0:32:22 > 0:32:25and helps other groups as well. British sources deny they have any
0:32:25 > 0:32:29concerns about the overdue influence of the Muslim Brotherhood,
0:32:29 > 0:32:33they are urging it could be as inclusive as possible of all Syrian
0:32:33 > 0:32:36communities and political groups. As for Turkey the border crossings
0:32:36 > 0:32:41with Syria are now closed. Something the Government here, led
0:32:41 > 0:32:46by a Sunni-Islamic party, is encouraging chaos, but trying to
0:32:46 > 0:32:52bring down the secular Assad regime, dominated by the minority Alawite
0:32:52 > 0:32:56sect, and backed by Shia Iran. TRANSLATION: This is part of our
0:32:56 > 0:33:00Prime Minister's great Middle East project to redesign the region.
0:33:00 > 0:33:05What began in Tunisia and Egypt has now got stuck in Syria. Next will
0:33:05 > 0:33:08come Iran. To make it easier tie tack Iran, Israel, America, Saudi
0:33:08 > 0:33:17Arabia and Qatar want a new Government in Syria. They are
0:33:17 > 0:33:20sparking a sectarian war. McMood last the same fear of -
0:33:20 > 0:33:25Mahmoud has the same fear of sectarianism. We will have civil
0:33:25 > 0:33:35war, most of the people in the regime and the Syrian people
0:33:35 > 0:33:36
0:33:36 > 0:33:40fighting now, they are Alawite. I don't think that's something the
0:33:40 > 0:33:45Syrians will forget soon. There will be a retaliation, I have no
0:33:45 > 0:33:54doubt. The end of the regime, he's sure, won't be the end of the
0:33:54 > 0:33:58struggle. But he doesn't want to give up fighting. Over the next few
0:33:58 > 0:34:03week, for some, winning a medal at the Olympics, will hang on a few
0:34:03 > 0:34:10hundreths of a second. What is it that gives elite athlete the edge
0:34:10 > 0:34:16they need for success. We have had exclusive access to Teep GB
0:34:16 > 0:34:22athletes and the -- Team GB athletes and the scientists and
0:34:22 > 0:34:32people working with them to find out if it is talent or anything
0:34:32 > 0:34:36
0:34:36 > 0:34:44else. Focused to win. Striving to reach
0:34:44 > 0:34:48the top. We expect our athletes to be almost superhuman. So is it as
0:34:48 > 0:34:55simple as being the best, or is there more to these elite
0:34:55 > 0:35:05performers. What is it that sets them apart. What is it that gives
0:35:05 > 0:35:05
0:35:05 > 0:35:10them the edge? McCollateralen doesn't just do cars. -- McLaren
0:35:10 > 0:35:16doesn't just do cars. At their technology centre, a Formula One
0:35:16 > 0:35:23effort is being applied to help top athletes too. With performance
0:35:23 > 0:35:28across many sports reaching a peak, winning depends on the smallest of
0:35:28 > 0:35:32margins, fine tuning is what McLaren does best. It is this know-
0:35:32 > 0:35:37how that Team GB is tapping into. Many athletes are monitored every
0:35:37 > 0:35:40day in their training environment, as opposed to a lab. That
0:35:40 > 0:35:44continuing collection of information helps us understand how
0:35:44 > 0:35:48the athlete is developing all the time. It is about data, we talk
0:35:48 > 0:35:51about the only competitive, sustainable advantage is to learn
0:35:52 > 0:35:55faster than the opposition. Technology has given us a platform
0:35:55 > 0:36:00to better understand individuals, and better intervene so they can
0:36:00 > 0:36:07develop more effectively for their events. Live measurement of Formula
0:36:07 > 0:36:11One cars during a race on tyre or engine performance, and the
0:36:11 > 0:36:17driver's physiology, means teams can make instantaneous decisions
0:36:17 > 0:36:27about the tactics. The technology is closely guarded in motor racing,
0:36:27 > 0:36:29
0:36:29 > 0:36:33and McLaren is equally secretive about how they have helped Team GB.
0:36:33 > 0:36:39The impact of the work we do is generally the difference between
0:36:39 > 0:36:48meddling and not meddling. It might even be the case of once you --
0:36:48 > 0:36:53medals, and not medaling, once you get in the case, you can get a
0:36:53 > 0:36:58medal. This lab in Sheffield is where the ideas of the future will
0:36:58 > 0:37:02be honed. These PhD students are not dancing, they are learning
0:37:02 > 0:37:06about posture. They are helping to build the proto-types of systems to
0:37:06 > 0:37:11help athletes out in the field as they train. Everything he does
0:37:11 > 0:37:17depends on measuring an athlete's performance, then feeding that
0:37:17 > 0:37:21information back straight away, giving them the edge. You have the
0:37:21 > 0:37:25boundaries of the allowed and the possible. The ruling bodies, they
0:37:25 > 0:37:31say what is allowed, but in terms of physics, anything is possible,
0:37:32 > 0:37:38as long as the rules of physics allow that.
0:37:38 > 0:37:43How many strokes per minute does it say? 32.5 something.
0:37:43 > 0:37:48Yes t looks daft, but believe me, this kind of monitoring is intended
0:37:48 > 0:37:54to help athletes work out how to optimise their performance.
0:37:54 > 0:37:58It is great, keep going. Tiny reflectors on my arms and legs,
0:37:58 > 0:38:02mean the 12 infrared cameras around the world can track my movements.
0:38:02 > 0:38:06An athlete can use this to watch how they position their bodios, how
0:38:06 > 0:38:16long and how fast their stroke -- bodies, how long and how fast their
0:38:16 > 0:38:19
0:38:19 > 0:38:25strokes are, how much weight they put on an arm or leg, and when.
0:38:25 > 0:38:30It is out in competition that matters most.
0:38:31 > 0:38:34The key is the rapid development of mobile technology. This makes
0:38:34 > 0:38:38instantaneous feedback possible, right at the pool side. Teams have
0:38:38 > 0:38:43access to more than a million pieces of data, on thousands of
0:38:43 > 0:38:48races, by swimmers from over 60 nations. They can begin to see
0:38:48 > 0:38:52though they compare with rival, or over the years. -- how they compare
0:38:52 > 0:38:57with rivals, or over the year. At qualifiers in Sheffield last month,
0:38:57 > 0:39:01the athletes were on edge. This is the second round of the Olympic
0:39:01 > 0:39:06trials for British swimmers. 37 places have already been filled,
0:39:06 > 0:39:11there are only 15 left to compete for. So for these swimmers, every
0:39:11 > 0:39:21hundreths of a second really counts. -- hunddret of a second really
0:39:21 > 0:39:23
0:39:23 > 0:39:30counts. Stacey has already earned her place at the London Olympics.
0:39:30 > 0:39:34She's watched by her performance team, so they can feedback last-
0:39:34 > 0:39:38minute tweaks. Professor Haake is monitoring her too and her rivals.
0:39:38 > 0:39:42What they are looking at Stacey's race, they will look at the video,
0:39:42 > 0:39:47with that they can see her technique, and the individual
0:39:47 > 0:39:51strokes going into and out of the turns. With an all what they have
0:39:51 > 0:39:54done already, they are looking at analysis and the number of strokes
0:39:54 > 0:39:57per minute, the distance between strokes and her velocity through
0:39:57 > 0:40:05the water, particularly coming into the beginning and ends of the race.
0:40:05 > 0:40:08You weren't aware of them here. Stacey herself seems less
0:40:08 > 0:40:13interested in the high-tech analysis, just watching the video
0:40:13 > 0:40:18tells her the most. Spectators too can be wary of the role technology
0:40:18 > 0:40:22plays in an athlete's performance. People like to see, in any sport,
0:40:22 > 0:40:26that it is the athlete in front of them that is winning, not some
0:40:26 > 0:40:29spurious piece ofing at the knowledge. So, the world governing
0:40:29 > 0:40:38body, although they like technology, they want technology it keep the
0:40:39 > 0:40:42sport alive, it can't be the dominant effect.
0:40:42 > 0:40:50At Loughborough, and the British Olympic swimming team is now in
0:40:50 > 0:40:55lockdown. Craig beginson is the world junior champion for the 100m
0:40:55 > 0:40:59breast stroke. His coach wants to work on his weak points. When he
0:40:59 > 0:41:04qualified for the Olympics, off the start he came up, he was probably
0:41:04 > 0:41:09last after the start, so the first 10-15ms of the race, he was one of
0:41:09 > 0:41:13the slowest, and by the time he got down to 50ms he was second-fastest,
0:41:13 > 0:41:17so you know, obviously if we improve the start to the point
0:41:17 > 0:41:21where he's one of the best at the start, then he's probably going to
0:41:21 > 0:41:27be one of the best swimmers in the world. Today, she and Craig have
0:41:27 > 0:41:31scientists from the University of Southampton, poolside, to help,
0:41:31 > 0:41:35they are measuring his speed through the water and the way he
0:41:35 > 0:41:39turns. Feeding this back to him straight away, while the memory is
0:41:39 > 0:41:43still fresh enough, that he can still almost feel the movements in
0:41:43 > 0:41:49his body. It can make the difference between winning an
0:41:49 > 0:41:59Olympic gold medal and not. Because, you are talking, at the Olympics,
0:41:59 > 0:42:04of such small amounts between 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, sometimes it is.01
0:42:04 > 0:42:09of a second. Anything to improve that is good.
0:42:09 > 0:42:19At the Olympic Park, with the games just a few weeks away, the British
0:42:19 > 0:42:24women's hockey team, enjoy a 2461 win against Argentina -- 2-1 win
0:42:24 > 0:42:30against Argentina. Then this happens, the moment every athlete
0:42:30 > 0:42:38dreads, Alex Danson injuries her shoulder, is it all down to bad
0:42:38 > 0:42:44luck, or could her genes have played a role too? A few weeks
0:42:44 > 0:42:49later and she's having physio. Let's do eight.
0:42:49 > 0:42:54Her prospects for London look good. But by knowing about her gene,
0:42:54 > 0:42:59could she have avoided injury all together? A London team has
0:42:59 > 0:43:04identified two genes with variants that can mean an athlete is more
0:43:04 > 0:43:09prone to stress fractures, might genetics be the clue to elite
0:43:09 > 0:43:14performance? If you look at any one sporting element, let as say, for
0:43:14 > 0:43:18instance, how high you can jump as a child, quite a lot of that
0:43:18 > 0:43:22variation in a classroom will be down to genes. It can be as much as
0:43:22 > 0:43:2680% of the variation of that sort of event. As you get more and more
0:43:26 > 0:43:30elite, you require an increasingly rare combination of genes, but
0:43:30 > 0:43:36quite clearly, if you didn't get to train, if you didn't get the right
0:43:36 > 0:43:40nutrition, you would never reach that potential.
0:43:40 > 0:43:44At the English Institute of Sport, they spend millions making sure the
0:43:44 > 0:43:48latest in sports science and medicine reaches Olympic and
0:43:48 > 0:43:53Paralympic athletes, they are keen to make use of anything that
0:43:53 > 0:43:57science can teach them, including the latest in genetics.
0:43:57 > 0:44:02We know some individuals seem to have a higher risk of certain types
0:44:02 > 0:44:07of injury. If we can better understand the risk of injury for
0:44:07 > 0:44:10an individual athlete, due to their genetics, so we can Taylor their
0:44:10 > 0:44:14conditioning programme to pre-- tailor their conditioning programme
0:44:14 > 0:44:20to prevent injury, but also inform their medal programme to manage and
0:44:20 > 0:44:25treat injury. That research involved work with
0:44:25 > 0:44:30the military, as well as athletes, but to some, the idea of testing
0:44:30 > 0:44:35for genes to help swap the perfect -- spot the perfect soldier or
0:44:35 > 0:44:40athlete is a chilling one. There is a danger, not least it isn't yet an
0:44:40 > 0:44:43exact science. And if we try to apply it in that way, we could be
0:44:43 > 0:44:48missing out on possible champions. But perhaps more importantly, it
0:44:48 > 0:44:51raises some big ethical and social issues, and for many people,
0:44:51 > 0:44:55participation in sport is about fun, it is about healthy lifestyle, and
0:44:55 > 0:44:59the last thing we or anyone else should be doing is actually
0:44:59 > 0:45:06screening people in to or out of particular sports, based on genetic
0:45:06 > 0:45:14variations. In the end, being the best is about
0:45:14 > 0:45:16so much more than data collection, fine tuning and genetic testing.
0:45:16 > 0:45:22Let's just imagine you have screened all the males in the
0:45:22 > 0:45:27country at the age of two, you have identified the next Beckham Gino
0:45:27 > 0:45:31type, does that person want to play, enjoy playing, have they also
0:45:31 > 0:45:35developed the set of gene that is will lead them to discover alcohol
0:45:35 > 0:45:45and cigarettes at the age of 11 and stop training. None of these things
0:45:45 > 0:45:49
0:45:49 > 0:45:52are predictable. If the winners emerge from people like you and me,
0:45:52 > 0:45:55they are essentially the same enough or different enough to set
0:45:55 > 0:46:04them apart. If they weren't, the rest of us would have nothing to
0:46:04 > 0:46:12aspire to. Let me take you through the front
0:46:12 > 0:46:22of tomorrow's papers. A lot with beautiful covers, and souvenir
0:46:22 > 0:46:44
0:46:44 > 0:46:48That's all from Newsnight, tomorrow night we are timed to be on air
0:46:48 > 0:46:52right in the middle of the Olympic ceremony, I'll be here with the
0:46:52 > 0:47:02best moments, we will explore what it says about Britain, with a panel
0:47:02 > 0:47:04
0:47:04 > 0:47:07from music, sport and literature, good night from all of us.
0:47:07 > 0:47:11The Olympic Park looked amazing in the sunshine this week, that is set
0:47:11 > 0:47:14to change, to some extent, during Friday, a risk of showers pushing
0:47:14 > 0:47:18in across the south-east of England. Showers across the North West of
0:47:18 > 0:47:21Scotland. Inbetween many places dry, sunshine coming through from time
0:47:21 > 0:47:25to time. Temperatures across northern areas still struggling.
0:47:25 > 0:47:32Just scraping up to 21 degrees across Yorkshire. In the south
0:47:32 > 0:47:36lower than they have been. 23 degrees in London, as opposed to 30
0:47:36 > 0:47:45we saw days ago. In the south-east largely dry, sunshine coming
0:47:45 > 0:47:48through, pleasantly warm on the beaches. A fine afternoon, some
0:47:48 > 0:47:50patchy cloud, some sunshine as well. Dodge the showers across Northern
0:47:50 > 0:47:54Ireland, being pushed in by a fairly brisk north-westerly wind,
0:47:54 > 0:47:57that won't help with the feel of the day, those showers merging to
0:47:57 > 0:48:05get longer spells of rain across North West Scotland, particularly
0:48:05 > 0:48:09to the north of the great Glenn. Not the warmest of days, by