Payments into the Olympic Lottery Distribution Fund etc. Order 2007

My Lords, I thank the noble Lord for that intervention, but that is surely the difference between one party’s politics and another’s. When the Government, the nation and my noble friend Lord Coe, who is in his place, won the Olympic Games for the United Kingdom and in particular for London, there was a scramble to start sorting out the numbers. My complaint was that there was not enough transparency. We had gone into the game completely together, but we did not get the transparency we were looking for. I suspect that we did not get it because the competence to provide those figures initially was not there. However, one of the good things that has happened after serious pressure from the media, ourselves and the Liberal Democrats is that the house is now in order. I am relaxed to say that I believe that the management set-up of the ODA, LOCOG and the LDA are thoroughly competent to deliver what we expect them to deliver within the budget. I am especially pleased that Tessa Jowell has agreed to come to the House of Commons every six months to bare her soul and the Government’s on the state of play in the numbers and that cash forecasts will be available. The interim meetings that she has promised us—I already have dates in my diary from her office for the quarterly meetings—will give us another opportunity to understand what is going on in a supportive if at times critical—because that is often supportive—and helpful role. One of the issues that I have been pushing is that the communication with the nation as a whole still needs to be raised. We are now reading about major cities looking forward to hosting training camps and so on, but when I talk to people—I have been wearing this logo for a week or so—there is still a lack of understanding in the country about the budgeting and the management of the funding. The press needs to be given more detailed education. We can then go forward. In principle, we are with the Government and right behind the game. I have no trouble in supporting the Motion with what the Minister has given us today.