"CONFUSION AND SPIN REIGN OVER OLYMPIC COSTS"- TUFFREY

11.37.41am GMT Wed 22nd Nov 2006

Responding to comments made by Ken Livingstone on the today programme this morning that "there is not a 40% increase" in the £2.375bn Olympic Budget, Liberal Democrat Leader in the London Assembly, Mike Tuffrey, said:

"The contradictory statements by Tessa Jowell and the Mayor show the extent of the confusion reigning over the Olympic budget.

'For 2 weeks now Londoners have been getting spin rather than substance over a bill we might end up footing. This is doing untold damage to the public support of the games. It's time for the Mayor and Government to cut through the speculation and publish the Olympic budget."

ENDS

Notes to the editors

1. In evidence to the House of Commons Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee yesterday, Secretary of State Tessa Jowell stated that the costs of construction of the Olympic Park had risen by £900m, bringing the current total to £3.3bn, or a 38% increase in the original budget.