Metro: Letter: Building to 2012

The TaxPayers' Alliance is trying to scare readers with its claims about London 2012 adding £4 billion to the cost of other construction projects (Metro, Thu) but without the hard facts to back up what it says.  The reality is that the Games will account for a very small proportion of the total building work in Greater London and the South-East in the next few years and any increase in construction inflation is likely to be down only in very small part to a 2012 knock-on effect.  Big project though it may be, any impact from the Olympics (site pictured) must be seen in the context of the substantial work already planned for the South-East, including Heathrow's Terminal 5 and new East Terminal, the Thameslink rail scheme and the widening of the M25

Tessa Jowell,
Minister for the Olympics