Economy 23 October 2012 London Olympics exceed initial budget by £6.52bn When is "under budget" not "under budget"? Sign UpGet the New Statesman\'s Morning Call email. Sign-up BBC News, 1 February 2007: How much will the Olympics really cost? The overall budget for the London Olympics submitted in the bid to the International Olympic Committee was £2.4bn. The figure came from a study carried out by construction company Arup in May 2002. It predicted the cost of the Games to be £1.8 billion. The government then commissioned another report in 2004 carried out by accountants PriceWaterhouseCooper, who put the figure closer to £3.2bn. The government settled for a compromise figure of £2.4bn. BBC News, 23 October 2012: London 2012: Olympics and Paralympics £377m under budget The cost of the London Olympics and Paralympics will be £377m less than expected, according to the Government. The combined budget for the two events was £9.29bn, but the projected cost is £8.92bn. Savings came from a drop in security, transport and construction expenses. In other words, "Our £6.89bn overspend was actually just a £6.52bn overspend when all things are taken into account! Huzzah!" The latest BBC News story doesn't even mention the original estimates at all, although an earlier news story - from July - at least featured Hugh Robinson evading the question: Addressing the original bid budget of £2.4bn, Sports Minister Hugh Robertson said there was a "recognition right from the word go that figure would have to change dramatically on the basis of delivering the Games". We have always been at war with Eastasia. › SNP majority reduced to one as two MSPs resign over pro-Nato stance Photograph: Getty Images Alex Hern is a technology reporter for the Guardian. He was formerly staff writer at the New Statesman. You should follow Alex on Twitter.
