http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-18856922

 

London 2012: May defends Games security plans

 

Contractor G4S "repeatedly assured" ministers they would "overshoot their targets" for Olympics security staffing, Theresa May has told MPs.

 

Addressing the Commons, the home secretary also denied allegations the government knew before Wednesday there would not be enough guards.

 

Labour said it was "incomprehensible" Mrs May had not known earlier.

 

It comes after G4S admitted it would fall short last week, with 3,500 extra troops now being deployed for security.

 

Meanwhile, it has also emerged that police have had to deploy extra officers from eight UK forces to do Olympic security work.

 

Mrs May was answering an urgent question from Yvette Cooper MP, the shadow home secretary, on "security arrangements for the Olympic Games in light of the inability of G4S to deliver its contract".

 

During the day athletes and officials have been arriving at the Olympic Village with Heathrow Airport experiencing its busiest day on record, and the first priority

 

"Games Lane" in operation.

 

Speaking to BBC Newsnight, Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt said it was not time for a "witch hunt" against G4S.

"What we actually want is for G4S to deliver on what they say they can deliver."

 

In her statement to MPs, Mrs May insisted the government had reacted quickly when it discovered G4S was in difficulty.

 

"G4S only told the government that they would be unable to meet their contractual arrangements last Wednesday and we took immediate action," she said.

She also denied G4S had "deliberately deceived" the government, insisting the firm's problem was "workforce supply and scheduling".

 

Mrs May did not confirm how many staff G4S would now provide, but added the government was "on course to deliver a safe and secure Games that everybody will enjoy".

 

But Labour's Yvette Cooper said Mrs May should have known about the problem.

 

"Even G4S say they have been discussing the detailed shortfall for eight or nine days, yet last Monday the home secretary told the House she was confident our partners will deliver.

 

Members of Italy's Olympic shooting team arrive at Heathrow Olympic athletes, including Italy's shooting team, have begun to arrive at Heathrow Airport

 

"It is incomprehensible that monitoring was that poor that no one told her until Wednesday," she said.

 

"How on earth could the minister responsible for delivering Olympic security be the only person who didn't know?"

 

Ms Cooper also told MPs Tory London Mayor Boris Johnson had admitted the problems were known about "ages ago", and his deputy Stephen Greenhalgh had claimed security concerns had been raised "repeatedly".

 

G4S, whose shares have fallen by 9% since the problems arose, said security was being tightened at venues before "the full complement of accredited staff have been assigned".

 

It said: "Some venues are being supported by police in the short term, while the private security workforce is being mobilised.

 

"This situation is being rectified over the coming days, which should lead to the withdrawal of police from those roles assigned to private security."

 

Earlier, Manchester police had to deploy officers to provide security at a hotel in Salford where four Olympic football teams will stay - after only 17 of an expected 56 G4S staff turned up for work.

 

Police said there had been no failure to provide security for athletes.

 

But Paul Murphy, chairman of Greater Manchester Police Authority told the BBC using staff on rest days had cost the force £30,000 a day.

 

The prime minister's official spokesman refused to be drawn on when David Cameron was aware of G4S's Olympic recruitment failings, but said he was involved in the decision to deploy extra soldiers.

 

On the issue of the cost of the unscheduled call-up to the armed forces, the prime minister's spokesman said: "We are very keen to make sure absolutely no one loses out.

 

"G4S have been clear they will meet the costs."

 

Olympic lane The first priority Games lane is now in operation

 

Mrs May told the Commons last week that there were penalties written into the G4S contract but did not give details.

 

Late on Friday, G4S said it faced a £35m-£50m loss on the £284m contract after failing to recruit enough security guards for the Olympics.

 

There is now speculation that G4S chief executive Nick Buckles - who is due to appear before the Commons Home Affairs Select Committee on Tuesday - could lose his job, after chairman John Connolly hinted that senior heads could roll.

 

Mr Buckles admitted he was "bitterly disappointed" at his company's failure to meet the terms of the contract.

 

http://inspectorgadget.wordpress.com/2012/...e-the-olympics/

 

Why most police officers HATE the Olympics.

July 17, 2012 by inspectorgadget

 

Only 17 of planned 56 security staff turned up for work at the Olympic team hotel in Salford.

Only 20 security staff,out of 300 planned, turned up at Box Hill cycling site in Surrey.

 

180 security staff were due at an induction and training session at Coventry’s Ricoh Arena, but only eight turned up.

 

All these venues are now being covered by police officers who should be on the streets. Here in Ruralshire, our response teams are operating at dangerously low levels due to the planned Olympic deployment, let alone now, with further deployment necessary.

It is important to note that while politicians point to the total number of police involved compared to the total number of police in the UK, they know perfectly well that it is from the frontline uniform response and neighbourhood units that these abstractions have to be found.

 

Almost without exception, police officers below the rank of Chief Inspector I have spoken to both here in Ruralshire and in our neighbouring counties HATE the London 2012 Olympic Games, and hated it well before the current security fiasco.

 

Chief Inspectors and above like the Olympics because they do not have to go, because they have managed to get exemptions from the annual leave ban and because they have been told to like it. Most Chief Inspectors want to be Superintendents, so they tend to think what they are told to think, since they (mistakenly in my opinion) believe that this will make them more attractive at the promotion board.

 

Police officers HATE the London 2012 Olympics for three main reasons:

 

1. Summer leave has been cancelled so we can’t spend time with our children, time we don’t usually get because we work shifts.

 

2. The language and content of the training has been patronising, Orwellian and short on serious content. We have been treated like fools in the briefings, with most of the emphasis on political correctness and how to smile a lot. This pisses people off more than you can know!

 

3. The London 2012 period from 27th July to 9th Sept is being used to mess our lives about on an unprecedented scale, while senior officers and non-operational staff continue on as if nothing is happening.

 

* The new farce with G4S failing to turn up all over the country has further depleted our frontline teams.

 

The same is true for thousands of NHS staff and their families, for millions of people who couldn’t get tickets and for Londoners, who must now suffer the Zil lanes and traffic chaos. I am with Keith Allen, who recently gave a great ‘bah humbug’ interview about how much he hates the whole thing.

 

The one great thing about London 2012, is the very public exposure of G4S. For me it is not necessarily the scheduling issue. It is the horrendous stories coming out about the training, the organisation, the quality of the staff and the general shoddy nature of whole squalid back-room deals over workfare candidates vs. profit.

 

G4S and the politicians who defend them are saying that the whole thing is so complicated, they have to be so flexible and the demands can be unexpected and sudden. We know this. We do this every day. This is why we think it is a bad idea to privatise the police.

The ability to adapt to these demands on a daily basis, not just once in a lifetime, is why it is a bad idea to abolish the office of Constable and turn us all in to workers who can be made redundant, have out pay cut and essentially be reduced to the level of the poor devils who work (or who don’t work!) for G4S. This is what Tom Winsor wants.

 

The job we do is simply too important to be turned over to the greed and avarice of corporate shareholders. If people outside the police couldn’t see that before, they can now.

 

Gadget Note: No one minds being messed about in a genuine national emergency. We joined up to do this and we are fine about it. But bailing out a company which is about to take our jobs and those of our colleagues is a bit much! From what I hear, many soldiers feel the same.

--------------------------------------------------------

 

...And a bit of comic relief which could've come straight off the script of the spoof series "Twenty Twelve" by the BBC....

 

http://m.guardian.co.uk/sport/2012/jul/16/...mp;type=article

 

Athletes settle in to 'Olympic Village heaven' after bus woes

 

Craig Kinsley, a rookie Team USA javelin thrower, was smiling from ear to ear as he joined the first athletes dumping their bags in the Olympic Village. "I've just updated my Facebook status," he said. "England, London, Olympic Village, heaven."

 

He might have been forgiven for being less upbeat: Kinsley, below, was one of dozens of athletes from the American and Australian teams granted unplanned tours of Westminster Abbey and Tower Bridge when their buses from Heathrow got badly lost on their way to the village. But neither that nor the wind and rain sweeping the Olympic Park in east London was going to dim Kinsley's enthusiasm. "This is my first international competition," he said. "I might as well start big."

 

The village welcomed its first athletes on Monday and Swiss and Belgian competitors had already draped flags over their balconies. French and Guatemalan medal hopefuls milled around the shopping plaza as athletes from an estimated 40 countries checked in. But getting here had been tough.

 

Volunteer drivers from Scotland, Northern Ireland and other parts of the UK – along with satnav systems that did not include the address of the Olympic Village – turned what was supposed to be a seamless journey along clear "games lanes" into an exhausting schlep through London congestion. ("Loads of us have never been to London before. It's great. We're like tourists," one Liverpudlian coach driver confessed.)

 

Tom Pukstys, a coach with the USA, described how he and 25 other members of the team who flew overnight to Heathrow from Chicago faced a four hour drive across London when their Scottish driver got lost. "I was watching the satnav and it was telling us to go one way, then another. It was the first time he [the driver] had made the trip. If you are going to competition and get lost that would be devastating. But that's not going to happen."

 

Two-time world 400 metres hurdles champion Kerron Clement tweeted: "Um, so we've been lost on the road for 4 hrs. Not a good first impression London. Athletes are sleepy, hungry and need to pee. Could we get to the Olympic Village please."

 

The team's spokesman, Patrick Sandusky, said there had been "some limited challenges for some of our athletes travelling from Heathrow to the Olympic Village" but he commended Locog's organisation saying "one bus trip doesn't detract from that a bit".

 

After a 23 hour flight, Australia's sailing team had a minor scare when they briefly lost track of their sails at Heathrow then had to wait two hours for a bus. It took a further two hours to get to the Olympic Village, taking in Big Ben, the Houses of Parliament and Westminster Abbey as the driver got lost.

 

"The driver didn't know where he was going and hadn't been told how to use the satnav," said Australian official Damian Kelly. "He was on his walkie talkie, we were on the phone to the Olympic Village getting directions and some of us were trying to guide us in using Google.

 

" Look, these things happen. We're just glad it happened now and not in the middle of competition."

 

It was an embarrassing case of life imitating art. The BBC TV satire on the games organisers, Twenty Twelve, had included a story where an official bus driven by a Nottingham man who did not understand his satnav got lost. A spokeswoman for the real London organising committee was keen to play down the problem.

"It is day one and we have only had one or two issues where journeys have taken longer than planned," she said. "The vast majority of journeys have been fine."

 

Scudding grey rain clouds and strong winds rattling the temporary buildings meant the Olympic Village, which will house more than 11,000 athletes from 204 countries, struggled to feel as festive as it surely will, but spirits remained high.

 

The US 400m champion, Tony McQuay tweeted: "I don't think I want to leave the UK sorry US lol but I'm loving how they build this village for us to stay in … Wow!"

"I train in Providence, Rhode Island where the weather is no better than this, so I don't mind," said Kinsley.

 

Across the plaza in the merchandise and souvenir shop, Guatamala's shooting team of Sergio Sanchez and Jean Brol Cardenas were buying posters, bangles and face cloths decorated with Wenlock the Olympic mascot.

 

"Everyone is very nice, but I have to say the weather could be better," said Cardenas, a trap shooter who is used to conditions of 25C and sunny in Guatamala City.

Team GB athletes in the village were rallied with a speech by Dame Kelly Holmes and Team GB footballer Jack Butland, 19, tweeted: "loving this experience already".

 

Even Kerron Clement appeared to have cheered up. The athlete, who describes himself in his online profile as "simply the best at what I do" tweeted later: "Eating at the Olympic Village. Love the variety of food choices, African, Caribbean, Halal cuisine, India and Asian and of course McDonalds".

G4S had 7 years to ensure they had enough staff. 7 YEARS.

 

 

They should be returning every penny of the tax payers money, then further reimbursing all the soldiers and police who have had leave axed and been pulled to cover the gaps that G4S left.

G4S had 7 years to ensure they had enough staff. 7 YEARS.

They should be returning every penny of the tax payers money, then further reimbursing all the soldiers and police who have had leave axed and been pulled to cover the gaps that G4S left.

 

Nick Buckles then yesterday gets up in front of a Parliamentary inquiry and has the nerve to say that G4S will take their £57 million "Management Fee".... I mean.... SERIOUSLY..?? :wacko: :wacko: This lot are as shameless as the bankers, but, tbh, in a way, I'm not surprised by G4S' shamelessness, the city bankers have been getting away with murder and bailed out and subsidised since 2008, it's little wonder that others kind of feel that they can take the piss as well.... <_<

 

The G4S thing is a joke, disgraceful.

 

It does however make me smile that Grimly managed to find and highlight the only negative bits of an otherwise pretty complimentary article.

The G4S thing is a joke, disgraceful.

 

It does however make me smile that Grimly managed to find and highlight the only negative bits of an otherwise pretty complimentary article.

 

Which one..? I posted three.... :lol: :lol:

 

Mind you, I could probably discount the one written by the copper..... :lol:

Which one..? I posted three.... :lol: :lol:

 

Mind you, I could probably discount the one written by the copper..... :lol:

 

The one about the Olympic Village - to say you highlighted the only negative bits might be a bit of an exaggeration but the reaction to the whole development has been overwhelmingly positive.

The one about the Olympic Village - to say you highlighted the only negative bits might be a bit of an exaggeration but the reaction to the whole development has been overwhelmingly positive.

 

Well, it's not a very nice place to be if you're a cleaner though....

 

Nick Buckles then yesterday gets up in front of a Parliamentary inquiry and has the nerve to say that G4S will take their £57 million "Management Fee".... I mean.... SERIOUSLY..?? :wacko: :wacko: This lot are as shameless as the bankers, but, tbh, in a way, I'm not surprised by G4S' shamelessness, the city bankers have been getting away with murder and bailed out and subsidised since 2008, it's little wonder that others kind of feel that they can take the piss as well.... <_<

 

Sadly they'll keep the lot. As has been seen in big business - this country rewards incompetence.

 

Its a good job there are message boards like this for us ordinary oinks to sound off on as - as with the bankers, etc, there is bugger all else we can do about it.

 

Kath

Well, it's not a very nice place to be if you're a cleaner though....

 

Link?

Link?

 

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-21...c-cleaners.html

 

Warning, it IS the Daily Mail though....