Ian Martin. One Olympic world, one Titanic dream, one 'legacy offsetting' scam

摘要

I'm in China for a few days, with the rest of the Olympic Rebadging Task Force. Not on some morally dubious junket subsidised by hard-working British taxpayers, either. I can't go into details for reasons of national security, but rest assured our trip is being funded uncontroversially by certain 'lazy taxpayers'. Anyway, with so many billions of pounds needed next year for the 2012 sponsor recruitment campaign alone, now is not the time to quibble over luxury hotels and working banquets. Tonight, in some provincial city beginning with X, we are the guests of a junior economic development minister. Li Chungchan or something, unless that was the toast. Eager, shortish, charcoal suit, monopitch hair, glasses, gurning Halifax-ad face... God, they all look the same don't they? Bloody economic development ministers. Apart from the automatic weapons everywhere and the edible food we could be in Doncaster exchanging business cards with Ed Miliband.