London Olympics Bill

I am grateful for that intervention, because it is important to make sure that every community is involved. Given some of the difficulties that some communities are facing at the moment, this is a good time to stretch out the hand of friendship to them, and to make sure that they are part of the plans in the lead-up to the Olympics and Paralympics. Several Members have started to put forward their constituencies as possible training venues. [Interruption.] I hear the cry, ““Surely not”” around me. It is important that a complementary approach is adopted, as some constituencies might have facilities that are perfect to host a particular training venue, and adjacent constituencies might have other facilities that would support and complement that. We must avoid a bidding war, and work with rather than compete against other areas to ensure that bids are coherent. As many Members have mentioned, sport and volunteering are not the only possibilities arising from the Olympics. Over the past couple of days, colleagues representing north and east Staffordshire constituencies have come together to try to give some political leadership to the region. We are looking to form a north and east Staffordshire Olympic taskforce to engage with various agencies such as the regional development agency, the north Staffordshire regeneration zone, the various city and county councils, the Staffordshire sports partnership and, as has been mentioned, trade unions. A tremendous opportunity exists for trade union membership across the UK to be used as a conduit to bring in volunteers and to spread the message about how people can get engaged and take part in various activities. That huge network needs to be tapped into. Builders, plumbers and the like will be required to construct facilities in London. Many Londoners already find it difficult to obtain a plumber, however, and if they all go off to work in the constituency of my hon. Friend the Member for West Ham (Lyn Brown) and in Hackney, Hendon and other areas, there will be a gap. Let us therefore encourage our young people to go into careers in plumbing and building—there will also be vacancies locally as others go off to do work in the areas being developed. My hon. Friend the Member for Stoke-on-Trent, North (Joan Walley) has a facility in her constituency for training people with such potential, and we must make sure that learning and skills councils are on board. The north and east Staffordshire area is ideally placed for logistics. Teams travelling from all over the world will wish to set up in different parts of the UK and to bring over equipment in advance. Storage and distribution facilities will therefore be necessary. Without wanting to plug north and east Staffordshire too much, it is a perfect location for such activities. As a final plug, the Olympics will need an official supplier of ceramics, and where better than Staffordshire? I hope that the Olympic team will consider setting up regional park-and-ride facilities across the wider UK, to which people can drive and then get public transport into London, rather than everybody being required to drive down to the south-east and then get a train. That would ease congestion in the area and ensure that the whole package is better for those coming to the Olympics. On ticketing arrangements, which several colleagues have mentioned, I hope that the International Olympic Committee will give careful consideration to providing better concessionary arrangements for hard-working families. I also hope that steps are taken to ensure that people across Britain are able to afford the tickets and that a suitable public transportation package is put together. The question of fair trade has already been raised in the debate. It is vital that we make sure that the Olympics and Paralympics do not provide an opportunity for manufacturers to sell sports equipment and national team clothing put together by child and sweatshop labour in developing countries at poverty wages. We must show real world leadership and make sure that these Olympics and Paralympics are the fair trade games. In conclusion, the news about the Olympics is excellent for the UK. People across the country must be able to seize the opportunities that come their way and take advantage of every possible spin-off . We must work collectively as a country and not in competition with each other. We should save the competition for the Olympics and Paralympics.