I was feeling pretty disgusted with PM Camerons decision to invest a further £40m in the opening and closing ceremonies for the forthcoming London Olympics,and was contemplating blogging my feelings,when I came across a small article by the Times Chief Sports Writer Simon Barnes in todays edition. I reproduce it below, and simply say, “Thank You, Simon Barnes”.

“Hurrah! Another £40 million to spend on self – aggrandising codswallop! Just what we need in these hard times. You thought that we were only going to get 40 million quids-worth of fire eaters and morris dancers and jugglers and tumblers and people writhing about being the sea.

But no. Gloriously and wonderfully, we’re going to spend twice that amount on the opening and closing ceremonies of the Olympic Games,occasions which are, without any exception whatsoever, hideous and ghastly and vulgar, leaving any sane person groaning with boredom.

Four years ago we learnt with aching precision that the Chinese Army is good at doing what it’s told. Loved the goose stepping. They had 2,000 synchronised drummers; how marvellous do you think that was in the stadium? Not marvellous at all, actually, just loud and boastful and vulgar and really rather dull. Maybe London can now afford 4,000 drummers drumming.

I love the Olympic Games. I’ve been to six summer games and they’ve all been great but every opening and closing ceremony I’ve been to has lowered the spirits. A vast space, vast cast,vast noise and a still vaster futility. Will we have a little girl flying across the sky, as they did in Sydney? Or a potted history of the nation, missing out the genocide and slavery, as they did in Los Angeles?

Athletics is a great sport and an athletics stadium is just the place to watch it. It’s a bloody awful place to watch a stage- show ; particularly one that reflects nothing but megalomania. Apparently it’s some kind of national television commercial designed to tell the world how great we are.

If we were really great we would spend the money on something worth doing. Give it to me; I’ll give half to the World Land Trust and make serious steps towards safeguarding the future of the Asian elephant and the tiger; and the other half to Second Sight and wipe out avoidable cataract blindness in rural Bihar.

Instead we’re going to spend the money on a lot of jumping about and going bang and lights going on and lights going off again making silly people say oooh and ah. It’s woeful. Can’t we miss out the opening ceremony and go straight to the sport ? That’s what we’re here for isn’t it?”

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