Lord Foulkes of Cumnock
Main Page: Lord Foulkes of Cumnock (Labour - Life peer)
Lord De Mauley
My Lords, my noble friend raised this point in a debate the other day. The building of the Olympic park and other Games venues for London 2012 has been a great success story for the UK. In order to secure over £1 billion of sponsorship, restrictions on marketing rights have had to be put in place. The many thousands of suppliers for both the build and the staging of the Games have received a full commercial rate for their goods and services. However, the Government are committed to working with the British Olympic Association and others, and through them the IOC, to find a way to ensure that contractors and subcontractors can seek a form of recognition of their superb contribution to the Games.
Lord Tomlinson
My Lords, does the Minister accept that the nub of the Question asked by the noble Lord, Lord Roberts, was about how to encourage demand and promote growth, and that those questions were the very ones that he did not really address in his reply? Would he take note that there is serious concern, not only on both sides of this House but in the country, about the failure to do those two things and that that is manifested in today’s Ipsos MORI poll, which shows Labour on 44%, the highest since the last general election, with the Government—the Conservatives —slumping to 31%?
Lord Soley
Given that the IMF has downgraded our growth forecast from 0.8% to 0.2%—the lowest for any major economic power—will the Minister give his very full support to the Chancellor of the Exchequer, who would like to allow more private sector investment, specifically for the expansion of Heathrow? Will the Minister confirm his support for the Chancellor on that issue?