Olympics Special Free Speech

This is Free Speech. Your chance to have your say about what matters to

As ever, it's been a busy month but only one topic of conversation, so

good evening and welcome to Free Speech. I am Jake Humphrey and

tonight we are live from this magnificent art deco theatre, The

Troxy in east London, good evening, audience. APPLAUSE thank you all

for being here tonight. It promises to be a busy programme. First, take

a quick look at this. The live countdown clock. As you can see,

nine days, 58 minutes, 57 minutes, and 58 seconds, until the big one.

What's the big one? Finally, it's here, London 2012. It's under way

next week. It's eyes of the world on Britain and London. What will

the Olympics mean for young people here? We have been asking new a

special poll of 500 young people and this is what you think. 71% say

the Olympics make them feel proud to be British and on the economic

front, 73% agree the Olympics will benefit the British economy. But

62% of young people in our poll believe that the money would have

been better spent elsewhere. Clearly, you have a lot to say

about this sporting summer, don't keep it to yourself, get online and

Facebook and Twitter and if you do this evening Michelle de Swarte is

waiting to hear from you. Good evening. Give her a round of

applause! APPLAUSE. Thank you for being with us tonight and make sure

you get in touch. This show is about you being part of the

programme. We have met Michelle, time to meet the panel and find out

how you can tell us what you think of them. Remember to send a message

with your hashtag tonight and with us, a live Olympic medallist,

welcome Tasha Danvers who won bronze four years ago in Beijing.

Next, the MP who has been campaigning against putting weapon

systems on residents' roofs, MP for Bethnal Green and Bow, Rushanara

Ali. We are also joined by the Skills Minister and Conservative MP

whose job it is to make sure young people in Britain receive work

skills from the 2012 Olympics, welcome John Hayes Hayes. Finally,

the co-founder of Haringey Young People Empowered, aiming to give

local youths a bigger say in their community, Symeon Brown. Thank you

all very much for being here. First, the Olympics have cost us all �12

billion. But the Government says that's OK, because the Games will

put �13 billion back into the economy. But who will benefit? Our

poll of 500 young people found a whopping 86% don't think that

overall the 2012 Olympics will make them better off financially. Let's

hear now from Jaurus and Eugene, they tried to get work at the

Olympic Park. I have been looking for work for over a year. When I

heard the Olympics was coming to town I was really excited. I

thought to myself, I have to, no matter what it takes, be involved

in this. I have been applying for jobs for a long time now. I would

say since 2010. When I I heard the Olympics came here I wanted to be a

part, no matter what, any position would do me. I knew they were

looking for praepbses on -- apprentices on the site and I knew

that was my only opportunity to get in there. I was looking for an

apprenticeship in engineering. Applied for five different jobs.

Runner, security guard, car direction job, labouring, directing

people because I speak different languages. They phoned me and then

they called me and told me that basically I passed an interview and

when can I start? I was like, wow, my whole life has changed now. It

felt like I was one in a million. did not get any position. I didn't

get nothing back whatsoever. That was a big disappointing. I feel

very lucky. I don't take it for granted. A lot of people would love

to be in the position I am. On the first day in site, working on the

Olympics stadium, wow, I can't believe I am one of the few that's

here. Maybe I didn't get a chance with this one but I do believe

there are more opportunities out there to come for me. I definitely

got my hopes up still. Well, there you go, one Olympic Games tworbgs

different store -- two different stories. It's right that as you

went through this process and live locally, you should start tonight.

What's your question? I have lived there for a long time and applied

for all those jobs, what has the Olympics done for me? Good question.

From a Londoner. Let's come to you first, Tasha Danvers, Londoners

have contributed �625 million to the Games or at least they they

will have done. Surely they should get something for that money, like

a job? I know, it's easy to say that but in reality it's just not

going to happen, you know, I don't think the Olympics ever professed

to be able to solve the problems of the world and to solve the problems

of the country that everyone was going to be able to be employed as

a result of the Olympics coming here. It's just unrealistic.

There's only so many jobs available. Even the ones that are available,

many of them are temporary. So, unfortunately, some people are

going to miss out, as you saw. There was a balance there, someone

who did benefit from it and others that just won't. It's just the

natural way that things work out with the Olympics. OK. Rushanara

Ali, I am intrigued to hear what you have to say, you are an MP. I

am sure you know your constituents well. Have your constituents had

the opportunity to apply for jobs and get jobs, has it changed their

lives? First of all, I think we need to recognise that having the

Olympics has regenerated the East End of London in an area that

hasn't had the investment that's needed. Let's not forget that

that's a big achievement for this part of London. And we should be

proud of that and also be proud of the fact that you guys are going to

be the hosts of the poeubgses to the rest -- Olympics to the rest of

the world and that's remarkable. That's going to be something we

will all remember for the rest of our lives. But on the point about

jobs, I think you make an absolutely key point, which is that

when we got the bid one of the hopes and ambitions was to generate

more jobs and the fiasco over G4S has been absolutely scandalous and

you are absolutely right to expect to be able to get a job that was

available and thanks to the failure of G4S and the Government to hold

them to account those jobs haven't been available to people like you.

I think you are slightly right to be angry about a missed opportunity

that should have been available to young people like yourselves who

are looking for jobs in a very difficult time. I have been

campaigning to get people into jobs long before I got elected and many

others have, so this is really disappointing that the Government

and the G4S haven't done enough to get people into jobs. Did you apply

for a G4S job? I did, in fact. happened? Well, I went for the

interview, but I didn't get no reply back whatsoever. What's going

on here? People unemployed in this country, huge amounts of young

unemployed people and this guy can't get a job with a company who

we know haven't got enough staff to do the job at the Olympics? 46,000

people have been involved in the construction that's led up to this

Olympics. About a quarter of those from the host boroughs. So, 12,000

people in those host boroughs have had jobs. But what I really want to

say is we have also built hundreds of apprenticeships, that's long-

term benefit to those people who were involved in that process. I am

in the business of building the biggest apprenticeship programme in

history. I want to give young people in particular the chance to

gain a skill, get a job and keep a job. It's not just about the

temporary effect, important though that is in terms of pride and

purpose, it's about investing in infrastructure and investing in

skills. That's what I think we have tried to do and of course nothing's

perfect. Tasha is right, we are not going to solve the problems of the

world through the Olympics, but I think this is an important

contribution to that business of regeneration that's been spoken

about. Would you have thought a young man living in this area

perhaps could have got a job with a company that needs to fill

vacancies. You work with young people, you are heavily involved in

lives they lead. Where has this gone wrong? I am not entirely

convinced at those responses, because the largest promise of the

Olympics was it would bring investment into the lives of young

people. I say this as a biased Londoner, but I think this is the

greatest city in the world and I am biased because I am from London.

APPLAUSE. But despite the beautiful things about this city, the thing

that makes it ugly is how deep inequality goes and I think this

Olympics is the very expression of that. Now the contradiction between

having austerity and having a lavish Games that cost billions is

there for all to see. We have a multibillion pound Games, yet we

have cuts to school sports. We have seen the fact that we have had

youth services completely slashed while we have seen management

committee of G4S pay themselves lavishly more than most of the

budgets combined. I think for me, I am not convinced on the argument of

regeneration either, because this seems to be a Games paid for by the

many that's benefited the few and the event that we paid for and I

think that what we have seen, even if the argument of regeneration, if

we look at the trends from previous Olympics what we have seen is that

that regeneration has come at the expense of local communities.

Barcelona, the cost of living went up by 139% and according to a UN

report it found that the Olympics is one of the top causes of

displacement of people across the world due to increase of rent,

increase of cost of living and so for me I think that the

regeneration for local young people involves supporting them, not

making it harder for them to get on in that area. APPLAUSE. A great

point, thank you. I am going to come to the audience now. I would

like a very brief reply to one of the points made there, John, about

spending on sport for young people. Spending on young people in sport

has been reduced �162 million to �35 million in recent years. I am a

Londoner, too. I was born and brought newspaper south-east London

on a council estate, other side of the river, I accept, but

nonetheless a Londoner. I know about what he is talking of.

have you cut that spending? only way you are going to build the

skills and strengths young people need to get jobs and keep jobs is

by investing in education, investing in... You have reduced

the investment. That's what why I built the biggest apprenticeship

programme in history and will continue to do so. Can you defend

the reduction in spending on sport? Let's get this clear, what this

Olympics will bring is many more opportunities for people across

Britain to get involved in sport and not just that, it will inspire

people. Your poll, the poll you quoted, 70% of people, more than

70%, think this will will make them proud to be British. I guess the

request that wasn't -- the question wasn't asked, how many people are

going to get involved in sport as a direct result, I bet you it's tens

of thousands, hundreds of thousands. We will find out later. We will

discuss that. Let's stick on the topic here of the economics of the

Olympics. Just going back on the jobs front. I realise we are not

going to solve all unemployment issues with the Olympics. But when

George Osborne gave his speech about getting Britain working again,

why is it that we have made 90% of our Olympic souvenirs in China and

not in Britain? Surely we should be making them here? We need to get

our economy going. It's crazy. APPLAUSE.

Let's hear from you. I would like to say there is a big problem in

the Olympics that a lot of the jobs haven't gone to British people and

a lot of people have been applying for jobs but they've not been given

them. I think four out of ten jobs have gone to foreign workers and I

spent a few weeks back in April or March working for a company which

was hiring for the Olympics and I spent a lot of time talking to

people who were supposed to be in hospitality industry and a lot of

them couldn't understand me. I was asking them passport details, they

did not understand a word I was talking about and it concerns me

when there are people out there who would like jobs at the Olympics and

haven't got them and there's - they've been given to foreign

workers as well, who can't understand English. OK. I don't

think you can say that people shouldn't get a job because their

English isn't up to standard but it's about making it fair for

It's about making sure local people have access to the opportunities.

That's why one of the things I did as soon as I was elected is work

with colleagues to put pressure on LOCOG to look closely at who was

being recruited, not just go for the easy option and bring people in,

when there are local people out of work who could do those jobs. I

think some of these numbers are far from accurate. The Government, when

we were in power, we made a commitment to create 20,000 jobs in

the five host boroughs. Less than half have gone to local people. So

I think it's right for us to put pressure on the Government to say,

OK, we've done what we can, so far, we need to go forward and celebrate

the Olympics, but once the Olympics are over, let's concentrate on the

legacy. There'll be jobs that will be coming as a consequence as part

of the legacy. And John and his party and his Government needs to

really keep the focus. We will work with them to keep the focus on

creating those job that's are going to come next, after the Olympics.

agree with. That I think the legacy is really important. We can take a

lot from that. I'd like to agree with the gentleman at the back. We

have to start making things that people want to buy in Britain. We

have to have a manufacturing economy. I was at a summit today

with major manufacturers. What we argued is we have to change our

economy, not just from one that relies on services, important as

those are, but the one that actually makes things. Yes, I agree

with you Sir, those things should be made in Britain. We need to have

the skills to do that and that is why I'm trying to bring about.

Let's be proud of Britain through the Olympics. Let's get a legacy,

part of that is the "made in Britain" really means something we

can all value. Let's hear from Thomas, you're doing a thesis on

the regeneration of East London. Can you tell us whether any of

these points have resonated with you? It would be easier if you look

at me. I can't really do much more what you're saying about the rent

gap. I'm working in an historical context. Going from Barcelona '92,

which is what our Olympics models itself on, in fact Ken Livingstone

said he wanted London to become Barcelona on Thames, which I find

quite ironic, because of the whole rent gap. What's your point Thomas?

Sorry. My point is this Games, we can't say what the economic impact

is going to be. We can just say it's going to be developed through

a woolly legacy. It needs to be identified soon after Games.

interested whether the panel to spend �12 billion to make �13

billion is quoted, is that good value? No, I definitely think it

should be more. It should be more. Going into an Olympics, they know

that it's going to overrun. They know that the cost, some Oxford

students did a study on the Olympics and it's -- its

overrunning. They found with 100% consistency the Olympics overruns.

It's about the management of that money. So if they think it's only

going to make �13 billion, I don't know, if you're in a struggling

economy, like for example Greece was, it could really devastate the

economy. Maybe certain cities need to reconsider whether it is worth

it. How do you value national pride? When you won your medal,

when our athletes this time round win their medals, we're all going

to get something out of that, because we are all going to be part

of the celebration. That may sound romantic. It may sound ambitious.

It may sound creative, but you know that feeling, when a British

sportsman achieves something that I couldn't have achieved, you

probably could actually. But I couldn't. The kick that gives us

makes us begin the day with a spring in our step. That's part of

it, surely? It's part of it. I was very proud when I crossed the line.

At the end of the day, when I go home I still got to eat. My son

still has to eat. APPLAUSE

Pride doesn't fill my belly, it doesn't pay my rent. It's all

lovely to say that. That's a good point because I was very proud. I

was very honoured to be a member of Team GB and to cross the line and

be able to stand on the podium, but at the same time, we have to get

with the reality is that that's not what pays the bills at the end of

the day. That also has to be considered more than anything else,

I think. Let's find out what people are saying at home. We have a big

response here. Adam maybe this is for you, a question for you. He

says, why should the taxpayer, pay for it. He lives in Northumberland

and says it has no effect on him. LAUGHTER

I live in Lincolnshire. I'm a fairway from East London. But I

think it's a national event and a national event, with all kinds of

events that will be held around the country, as you know. So it's not

just in London. A national event is national. Are your constituents

excited, empowered and engaged by the Games? Yes, I gauge that by

this. How many constituents will be following the Olympics? I suspect a

high proportion indeed. We've got another comment here and this seems

to be the overwhelming response, "The Games will only benefit the

large sponsors and those already rich politicians." Then quite a

nice one from Pearl, "I'm extremely excited for the Olympics because

it's going to go down in sporting history and not just in British

history." That is mirroring what you're saying. Now there is only

one way for our panel to find out what you guys at home think about

the comments that they just made, that is to fire up the power bar.

Let's do it. Yeah, it seems like you're doing quite well there.

You're obviously echoing what a lot of people at home are thinking.

Your comments about benefiting young people with the Olympics is

important. I want to get quickly, we heard there on the internet from

someone saying we should be proud of the Olympics, this is something

to celebrate. I'd love a couple of comments from people who are

excited about the Olympics and they don't care about the economic

benefit, it's just about having the Games? Just talking about the

workers and the Olympics... LAUGHTER

After the Olympics I don't think it's going to benefit the economy.

After the Olympics over 25,000 people are going to get fired. What

effect is this going to have on our economy, what will happen to them?

You clearly didn't want to talk about the excitement of the Olympic

Games. I think we should leave that point. Thank you very much and

thank you for your comments on that and all of you online who shared

your thoughts with us. Now the next topic. This is Starstreak High

Velocity Missile, rapier surface- to-air weapons. They've put them on

tower blocks in East London. One of them is just five minutes from here.

Vital for Olympic security says the Ministry of Defence. No-one's asked

us about it, say those in the flats below. Innocenced people from one

block went to court to have their weapons removed. They lost. A local

resident loaded this video. I live in the borough where the Olympics

are going to be and where the tower blocks are with the missiles on top.

I think it's great there's something in place to make us feel

safe and keep us safe from potential terrorist attacks. But

having it on top of flats where people live, it's out of order to

me. The trauma of knowing that there's missiles on top of your

house is just beyond belief. If they do go off, it's going to be a

major problem, we all know the risk. It's going to be really loud. Now

you're a potential target for terrorists. Even if they don't,

it's not fair on the residents to know it could happen at any point.

It's ridiculous, especially if there's children in the house. I

wouldn't want my children, little sister or brother to be in a house

where potential missile will go off on your roof. It's out of order.

APPLAUSE She says it's out of order. Plenty

of passion there and more here. Now a question, Natalie, what do you

want to know? Are the missiles necessary to help protect London

during the Olympics? OK, are they necessary? They're on the tops of

buildings in your constituency. I know your residents, some of them,

aren't happy, but isn't security paramount? Yes, it is, of course.

What my constituents took issue with was that they hadn't been

properly engaged when this decision was imposed on them. And there was

no sense of what the alternatives were, whether they'd considered any

alternatives before deciding to put these missiles on their roof tops.

That was not satisfactory. They felt that the answers, the

questions they had asked the MoD were not being properly answered.

One constituent, who lives in that block is here and has been a great

campaigner on this issue. People support the need for proper

security, but they also are quite right to be concerned about having

these missiles on their roof tops. That was where the objections lay.

It feels not what they've done but how they've gone about it. Security

is critical in these Games. We walk into the House of Commons every day

past heavily armed policemen. I have to tell you, when you walk

past them with a machine gun, every day of your life, it is pretty

disturbing. It's disarming. We know that's essential for our security.

These things are never easy. Security has to be the number one

priority. Everyone has to be safe. That does involve taking some

measures that are appropriate to the risk. It's a measurement of

risk. It's a professional judgment. I'm not going to get involved in

the constituency issue because that's your business. But I think

security is paramount. I think this issue could have been handled very

differently and I think the Government was very poor in making

sure that residents had the right information, because for quite a

long time people didn't have a clue what was going on. That was not

helpful. That was not satisfactory. Michelle? Aside from the residents

not knowing, James says, "Well of course, it's for the need of

national protection in case of an attack."

So as far as James is concerned, he thinks we need it to keep our

country safe. Maybe he's not living with the reality of this. Adrian

Weale is with us this evening. You are living -- Brian Whelan is with

this reality. -- living with this reality. I was, but I moved out.

John says he goes past police every day. You chose to work in the House

of Commons. People living in Bow didn't ask for missiles. They

didn't ask for police at their door. They were given no say in it.

not a necessary show of strength though? That seems to be all it is

though. If that deters terrorism? How do you deter terrorism by

blowing up a plane over Tower Hamlets and showering debris over

everyone there? What they're saying is people who live in Tower Hamlets

are less important than the people in the Olympic Stadium. Brian says

what kind of message does it send. Do you think there's a message that

shows the disconnect between communities and the Government?

think that the fact that there was no real consultation is another

case of the Olympics doing something to Londoners rather than

with Londoners. It's important that disconnect is mended. For me, I'm

delightly concerned. One of the worst things that happened in this

city is 7/7. What could missiles do to prevent that happen sning that

was people on the transport system. So that being there as a deterrent

worries me. Seeing the extent to which we've seen our streets

militarised yet the greatest security has come from a private

company being commissioned to police us, rather than anything

else, really highlights the spirit of the Games. We have to trust the

Government in this situation, don't we? We have to trust they have the

information to know what the right thing to do is? I think if they

knew the right thing to do, they probably would have consulted the

people that lived there. Of course, as everyone said, it is important

because we've seen 7/7. We've seen 9/11 and more relevant, we've seen

Munich. So we know that people will try to use the Olympics as a

grounds for whatever their political issues are. But I think

it is very poor of the Government to have gone ahead and just made

this decision without even a discussion. Even if you're going to

go ahead and do it any way, at least, have a conversation with the

residents and say to them, this is what this is. These are the

benefits, these are the risks. This is what you're going to be living

with, so they could at least feel somewhat involved. To just have

this thing planted on your building and have no say, you feel, I can

imagine that would be, you would feel helpless. Can you give us a

reply on this on behalf of the Government? Were the constituents

asked? The estimate of risk is something that's done by security

forces. You're right, we live in a dangerous world and there are a lot

of bad people about. I'd love it if we didn't have that high profile,

very obvious show of security strength. I mentioned my working

environment, which has changed dramatically... Shouldn't they

still have asked the people with them on their roofs? Actually the

issue is whenever you have a massive national event of this kind

it becomes, unfortunately a magnet for the good people there, but also

a potential magnet for those who are not so good. It wouldn't matter

whether it was the Olympics or any massive event of this kind, biggest

low jestic event since the Second World War in Britain, is bound to

bring issues with it. Let's get the thoughts of people in the audience.

It's unbelieve that people think they would have a say on where the

missiles are site. They're sited where they are to defend London. If

you asked people living in them, they would say no. Would you have

one on your roof? Yeah, I don't mind. I'd feel safer with armed

police there. Some of the fears are it makes those buildings a target

The whole of London will be a target during the Games. We forget

there were planes used in 9/11 against the Twin Towers and it's

conceivable it could happen again. The back row? I'm sorry, I have to

call you on what is an incredibly patronising response and especially

to Tower Hamlets. People are usually reasonable. Has an

explanation been made as to why it's necessary. If people are told

that it has to be there, they would understand that. I live in Tower

Hamlets and the first time I heard of this was when I read it on the

BBC website. I thought it was a joke. I thought I had to look again.

People are generally quite I think people should be

communicated with. I think people should be involved. This is a

London-wide event, it's a people's Olympics, that's the way I see it.

I think the gentleman is right, actually in the end it's about

tough choice. If security is the issue, which with we know it is, we

are going to have to take tough measures to deal with that. That's

not a perfect world, but we don't live in a perfect world. Frankly,

whoever had been in Government, that would have been the case.

think it's missing the point a little bit. It's not just about the

asking of the residents do you want these on here, it's about the

respect of the people in your city, giving them the respect to at least

have the conversation. OK, let's see what people are saying online,

Michelle. Helen says they wouldn't make me

feel safe. And west Coast says be grateful you are being kept safe. A

lot of conflicting - my favourite, Yatsu is saying the missiles are

out of order! Not sure you can blame the missiles, they're the one

thing you can't blame. The Power Bar looks interesting. It's funny,

I get asked a lot is it real? Yes, it is. It's not being pushed along

by treadmills. You can see now, Tasha and Symeon are neck and neck.

John t seems not only the gentleman at the back is feeling patronised

by your comments... The price of being in Government. Thank you very

much for your thoughts on that and once again, sorry we can't come to

you all in the audience but thank you for getting involved. Our next

topic. Does an athletic body make you a beautiful person? Tasha,

please don't take this the wrong way but Olympians kind of like

getting their kit off. Look at this lot led by a certain Tom Daley.

# I am sexy and I know it APPLAUSE.

There you go. Our athletes showing off their bodies beautiful there, I

have to say if my body was like that I probably would upload a

video to YouTube. Our poll found 74% of young people have not been

inspired by the Olympics to take part in more sports and this is

interesting, a recent research has shown women are put off sport

because they fear becoming too muscular. Let's start the debate

with Amelia. How can the Olympics inspire a

generation who are so obsessed with body image? Let's speak to someone

this evening who was inspired to get involved in being an athlete

and was wonderful as well, often represented Team GB, Jeannette

Kwakye, you won't be competing in a couple of weeks because of injury,

how do you feel women are put off because they look too muscular?

have been vocal about this in the past and it's down to your event,

the sport and like myself and Tasha and you are committed to what you

you want to do you don't care what you look like. You have an end goal

and go for it. I work a lot in schools with a lot of young you

women who are put off by the fact they might have a bicep or six-pack

that's too much and I try to convince them that it's a healthy

body and that's the most important thing. There is far too many girls

completely caught up looking like Kim Kardashian and there should be

more sportswomen put forward with wonderful bodies, healthy bodies

and act as great role model. When I was younger I was like, I don't

want to do the pulldowns, because I don't want back muscles and you

know, as I matured and realised what it was I wanted, I realised

there's certain sacrifices I had to make in order to get to the level

that I got to. That was getting a few muscles. I don't know, I think

if you look at someone like Jessica Ennis and other athletes, what is

wrong with that amount of muscle? It looks good to me. I wonder where

the idea is this is such a bad thing, where is that coming from?

Is it coming from media? Frankly, like Jeannette said, it's a healthy

body, a good body, a fun body. us into the mind of the 14-year-old,

did you think, you realised boys exist for the first time, do you

really want biceps? You are right, my sister is 15, I see it

straightaway and she moans about her legs and backside and I am like,

what you are doing is just what every normal girl wants. They're

going through the stages. If you are a sportswoman you have to look

a certain way to be good at what you do. I think it's just something

that we have to sacrifice. It is not a bad thing and Tasha is right,

what they do, the media, is constantly put across a negative

image that looking muscular is not good or looking fit even is not

good. I have heard journalists go at Kelly Rowland for having massive

biceps, I am like I must be Hulk Hogan! It's a negative response.

saw something in the paper about people saying Jessica Ennis was fat.

There was a quote the other day that someone's legs was big and she

took it as a compliment because she was fit for the Games. You were

sporty and decided it wasn't for you. I was 14, I did athletics for

four or five years and it got to the stage I was never going to be

at your level, I thought, you know what, no. Looking back on it now

the comments thaeu got from people, you are muscular, it was a bit

offputting. I still get it now and I am like what what! It shouldn't

be offputting. I think the media are the biggest culprit in making

women, especially women of colour, and talking about them in negative

ways, Serena Williams, she has too much testosterone, looks like an

NFL line backer, she is a champion and it's the way the media portrays

her and it's wrong. The media are the main culprits. More needs to be

done to empower women into sport and not - not make a muscular body

a negative thing. OK. Let's hear from the many arms in the air. A

great point from you. Yeah, it's just about determination,

motivation and passion for your own sport. You shouldn't be put off by

anything different. That's a good point. Is it an excuse that some

people realise the amount of effort you have to put into getting to the

Games and might say I am not interested? There is an element of

laziness milling around in there somewhere. If you want to be sporty

and want to be involved in sport, you will just get on with it. You

are not going to worry about, - we are professional athletes and this

is the criteria for our job to lift weights, to get strong, look a

certain way. I have had people come up to me and say, like you said, oh,

mate, how do you get them biceps, you are bigger than me, mate! On

the other hand, I get women coming up to me and saying oh, God, I wish

I had a body like yours. You get a mixed response. I was doing it to

be successful. You got the medal. got the medal. Wonderful, let's

hear from Darius. I am interested to hear what you have to say on

this, because you are one of our greatest young table tennis stars,

but for you it's more about looking good, you claim sport saved your

life almost. Basically from a young age, I lived in Battersea, over the

years I kept on doing it, a lot of my my friends dropped out and today

one of my friends called me, and said I am out tomorrow, -- sport

has changed my life, I am part of Team GB this summer. What do you

say to young people who say those young girls that don't want a

sporty body, what is your message? If you want to get somewhere,

doesn't matter what it is, you have to do it. If you want to be the

best at something, I mean, I love living in London but I now live in

Sheffield and I train in Austria. If you want to get anywhere in life,

you have to put away what everybody says and do what's best for you and

what you believe in. Good luck this summer. Well done. The lady next to

you. I am an Olympic wrestler myself for Team GB and it's all

about sport it involves skill and our bodies are are made to do

certain things. Some are born faster, stronger and you should use

them skills to pursue your dream. Women should forget about do I look

muscular, especially in wrestling, that's part of the sport. If you

can't, then there's no point in pursuing your dream. It's about

ignoring what people say and do what you want. Who do you want to

please? It's your life, go for what you want. Enjoy your Olympic

experience as well. Michelle, online. I don't think girls with

sports bodies are healthy, I am not sure if that makes sense. Girls

with curves who aren't stick thin are more beautiful.

And also, I like this one, no way, I would o love to have an athletic

figure like these women. Who doesn't want a six-pack? Indeed. We

would love to hear from you on all kinds of issues, not just whether

you want a six-pack. You can get in touch with us and Michelle. You can

also find us on Facebook. We are also at BBC Freespeech. Keep

getting in touch on all all kinds of topics. Next, commercial

sponsorship. For the the opening ceremony there will be a guard of

honour of 2000 school children from 250 schools. But, it's emerged

today that the Olympic organisers, LOCOG, have issued guidance that

the children should wear these Adidas trainers or these unbranded

footwear. This kicked off a row, but tonight in answer to an inquiry

by Free Speech LOCOG has confirmed if children wear these, Nike or

reebok they won't be turned away. Other big sponsor include McDonalds,

and being an official sponsor gives them rights over branding. Let's

discuss this on Free Speech. We have a question. Have the Olympics

become more about consumerism rather than sport?

Well, some people say commercialisation goes against the

fundamental principles of the Games, as an athlete, how do you respond?

I don't see a problem with it, frankly. As we know, first of all

the Olympics is an amateur event, so we cross the line, we win a

medal, we get nothing unless we have some contract worked out. I

don't see a problem with it. Other sports, you look at racing, race

car driving, they're up to their eyeballs in all kinds of branding.

I don't see a problem with the Olympics getting with the times and

being commercialised. Somebody has to pay, don't they? The sponsor

have contributed �750 million to the pot. If it didn't come from

where. Somebody has to pay and they did, we paid. The majority of the

money for the Olympics came - it was public money. I think I have

seen sports do amazing things in the lives of many different people

and to see it become a corporate Games is worrying. Considering what

we saw last year and people talking about that being a summer in which

consumerism exploded - this year some - - having a force that's

going to walk around. These have really I think these are really

sold our soul. We cannot have McDonalds sponsoring a Games

supposed to be about fitness, it's a contradiction. Can we appreciate

we may have paid a lot for the Games but we would have paid more

if it wasn't for the sponsors? amount of money came from public

money, that is clear. They didn't even pay 50%, even 20%. We paid for

the bulk of it. This should be a public Games for the benefit of the

public. I think that has not been the case. It's been a corporate

hospitality event, hosted in London, paid for by the many for the future

and that is wrong. John, you are I'm just still basking in the

relief thaw didn't ask a middle aged politician about the shape of

women's bodies. I'm grateful you didn't. But on sponsorship, you

know sponsorship in sport has been around for a long time, not just in

the Olympics. There is a balance. I do think there's a balance. But

actually, if sports weren't sponsored there wouldn't be the

investment. It covers a range of sport. All the sports we're

interested in I guess virtually have some form of sponsorship. Yes,

keep it balanced. And make sure as many businesses benefit from the,

and the economy benefits, coming back to the point, the masses of

people coming to spend money. balanced? I thri there are inherent

contradictions as Symeon was saying around health, if you're promoting

health and fitness don't let McDonald's hold the Olympics to

ransom. It's important to have flexibility around this. Similarly

with what kids wear, it's ridiculous they thought it was OK

to send this message to children. Children in my constituency, many

of them wouldn't necessarily be able to afford to buy a different

pair of trainers. These things actually need to be looked at for

the future so we have a proper balance and equally, we need to

think about sustainability. If we want to ensure that people respect

human rights for instance, do you chemicals is one of the -- dow

chemicals is one of the sponsors, they have connections with the Bo p

al disaster. We campaigned to ensure that the Olympic Stadium was

wrapped in them. I'm glad you came to me. Nick says "Just because they

put a money in the pot, doesn't mean they own the Games." Darius?

Without the sponsors the Games wouldn't work. I'm sponsored by

Coca-Cola. They've actually helped me get to the Games. They make good

drinks as well, McDonald's make salads, you know Powerade, that

sportsmen can use. They may have water. It's a big brand. Stuff like

McDonald's, who doesn't sometimes like a McDonald's. They make salads.

OK. Defending your sponsors very good. Stratford station where I

live is now covered in advertising. Can you not walk through. It it's a

public space. Does that offend you? Greatly. Why? Because I pay so much

towards the public transport system and I am forced -- I am force fed

these images of McDonald's. As a constituent I will not be getting a

free ticket to the lich. It won't benefit me in that way. Why should

they wrap these buildings in sponsorship. You're nodding your

head. Yeah I would agree. Fair enough if athletes need the

sponsorship from the larger organisations, but you're saying

it's for the people of East London, there are lots of independent

businesses here, why can't they sell their produce, their food and

merchandise. There should be a place for everyone. Let's complete

the row. I'm quite disappointed by John's comments so far about the

Olympics as a whole. All I hear you say, yes you should be inspired by

the Olympics, but you have to be inspired by people putting up with

missiles, putting up with public inconvenience and now being

commercialised. Look, this is a great event for Britain. Of course

it brings with it all kinds of challenges. The first time we've

had the Olympic Games since 1948. Yes, of course, legacy is really

important. I'm working to make that happen in my part of the Government.

I think we should be proud of. It I think we should celebrate. It I do

think that thousands, millions of Britons are going to get a real

thrill out of this. If that's too optimistic, well then I'm too

optimistic. I bet that a large number of people at the end of the

Games will say, what a fantastic celebration of sporting excellence,

of our country, of athleticism, of all the things that Sasha

represents for example. A young lady shouted out "In six months

we'll have forgotten about it." Really? Yeah, no disrespect to Tash

ya. That's her medal. She will remember that. But in the country,

we'll forget about it. You don't remember Linford Kristy getting a

gold? I don't care that much. I care about keeping hospitals open,

having provisions for young people. Things like that. OK. Online?

nice round up of this. "Commercialisation is required. The

money makes for better Games, better venues, better competition,

sports gets better." OK. The power bar? Yes, John you're doing good

babe. Tasha is yeah, you're owning Well done. Just as you did a few

years ago in the Olympics. Next up, who's welcome at the Olympics and

who isn't? What about Syria where the defence machine was killed

today? The Assad regime denies massacres of civilians, including

women and children but the IOC is not inviting the head of Syria

national Olympic committee to London. Is that enough? Is it right

to mix sport with politics? David has a question. Should Syria be

allowed to participate in the Olympics? Nice and simple. I think

this is obviously a matter for the IOC. But we have to make a

distinction between sportsmen and women, who may be victims

themselves of repressive regimes versus what the repressive regime

does. This is a tricky balance. But I actually think it is, you know

the Olympics provides a focus for people to campaign against human

rights violations. So if you take the anti-apartheid movement, the

sporting events couldn't be disassociated from what was

happening. So where that is the case, of course, we should reserve

the right to stop people from coming to our Olympics if they are

involved. Would you like to see Syrian athletes banned from the

Games? It's not my decision but we need to look closely at human

rights violations of any country and make sure we take a stand, as

members of the public and politicians. But this is something

that the IOC should look at for the future, because increasingly people

rightly ask why countries who take part or sportsmen and women who

take part should do so. This is a live debate that we should

encourage. Let's have that debate. I'm Syrian as well as British. I'm

against athletes, Syrian athletes playing in the Olympics this year,

because I don't think it's good for them as well not being good for the

country itself. Yes, they may not be affiliated to the regime and may

not support it, but the fact that they're playing, representing a

country which is governed by a regime that it's killing its people

is wrong. I don't think it's haeplty for them. They're going to

be running with the Assad flag. To go down in history you were playing

under the Assad regime and flag, you were supporting it, by holding

that flag. Where do we draw the line? Today, Iran have been accused

of a terrorist attack by Israel. We've had talk in the past of

countries with human rights violations, there was plenty of

talk about China not being allowed to host the Olympics in 2008.

People thought that wasn't right. If you start, where do you draw the

line? I'm not sure. But I question the Olympics as well. Like Symeon

said, you know, it's paid for by the many and it's only a few

benefit from it. I'm not sure about the whole idea of the Olympics in

that it's so good in helping people and developing both on a national

scale and on an individual scale, because for me, I've never been

inspired to do sports because I've watched the Olympics. I've been

inspired to do sports because of a great PE teacher. It's about

getting involved on the ground, interacting with people and

providing opportunity for people. Great point. Thank you very much.

Let's make brief points and get round the audience. Just kind of

like in terms of what Symeon was saying about London, the Olympics

being for the few, I was listening to something on radio about how

someone was refused not only a job at the Olympics, but refused

volunteering because they had tattoos and piercings. We are

talking at the moment about despotic regimes. We have to keep

on topic. Fire away. I don't think you should blame the people of the

country. It's not them who are making the decisions and why should

they suffer. If they've been training and working to take part

in the Olympics, why shouldn't they be able?

APPLAUSE Would it not be a kind of a victory

for the Assad regime if their athletes weren't allowed to London

to the Olympics. Wouldn't that be the regime wing and more repression

and taking away -- winning and more repression and taking away from

people. How would you feel about having to perform in front of

athletes that you didn't feel should be at the Games? It's my

personal belief that the athletes are representing the people of the

country, not the Government itself. Just because they're running under

the flag, doesn't mean they are supporting the regime. The sport

that they're partaking in brings hope to themselves and their people.

They shouldn't be excluded in my opinion. Thank you very much. A

final comment from you. It's not the athletes' fault. The regime is

the problem. And Also, if we go back to the

power bar. It's rather even. think we have a clear winner, I'm

feeling Tasha's taken gold here. You get gold tonight Tasha. Thank

you all very much for your time this evening. It's all looking

rather even on the power bar. Round of applause for our panel.

APPLAUSE Thank you for being here this

evening. We really appreciate it. That is almost it for tonight.

Don't forget the debate is always online. The next show is in

Edinburgh on August 15. We leave you with Deanna Roger with a poem.

She has written this for us. My honest contradictions with no

doubt leave me in the mouths of rafbness fiends, because I don't

know what I truly believe. As a teen I saw five bowls of sweet

poison, squeezed, slipped, piled onto a cluttered table. I saw them

tipping and coursing through my messy city. My lovable, detestable

broken city. My city buried in the pit of minds and factories,

derelict with nothing built to replace them. My southern arrogant,

come see us only city. But years have passed since and despite my

apocalyptic whispered riot it's here. So I search the web to find a

buzz of my own tangled opinion. I read minutes from meetings and

budgets revised and public polls and they all told me that my split

perspective is normal and representative of the population.

So I write poems and prose of pros and cons, even proa con. Even cona

fear I have been ingesting from free news for years. Immigration,

terror, money, drugs, trafficking, slavery, congestion, jobs, change.