London Olympics 2012

from email, 3 September 2009: "It is now under 3 years until the London Olympics. Construction of the site is already well underway, with social displacement, gentrification and privatisation the inevitable outcomes... Although it is generally accepted that we do not have the capacity to stop the Olympics, the question nevertheless remains as to how to organise effective resistance to the Olympic project, using the spectacle of the Games to both strengthen existing networks and create alternative structures... more

from hsn, 29 June 2009: "This report documents and critically analyses the working conditions of construction workers on the Stratford City development site of the 2012 Olympic Games. We base our findings entirely on the accounts of anonymous IWW and non-IWW construction workers employed there. The report documents widespread mismanagement and a lack of resources devoted to ensuring that health and safety standards are maintained. Police intimidation of workers and harassment union activists is also documented..." more

from email, updated 3 January 2008: "There will be a talk in Stratford on the 8th of January 2009 which will discuss the realities of Olympic jobs, gentrification and policing. Hear speakers, watch film and debate the Olympics at an event on Thursday the 8th of January 2009, 6.30 – 8pm at Stratford Circus, Stratford Circus, Theatre Square, Stratford (opposite Pizza Express)..." more

from no2010, 1 December 2008: "From London comes word that some denizens of the United Kingdom are having second thoughts about the wisdom of hosting the Olympics in the summer of 2012. "Even the government is going off the Olympics," declared a recent headline in the Guardian newspaper. "Is it too late to give them to the French?" more

from Games Monitor, 21 April 2008: There is no doubt that the Olympics will bring about a permanent change to the economy of East London, The question is what kind of change, and who will benefit. Here lies the challenge. The problem is that previous Olympics have failed to help the most economically disadvantaged groups living in the areas where the Games have taken place. In the UK, flagship regeneration projects in East London and elsewhere have also failed to improve the well-being of local residents. The Docklands development is the most glaring example. more

from email, 3 October 2007: Mute Talk at Soho Theatre 7pm, 9 October, 2007
Generation Debt, Part 1: The True Cost of the Olympics. The enormous bill for two weeks of spectacularised sport is justified by promises of urban regeneration. However a growing number of people insist that in reality the games are nothing more than a corporate landgrab.  more

Sunday the 23rd September was a sad day in the history of gardening. It was the day the Manor Gardens Allotments were closed by the Olympic Delivery Authority. Many people marched to voice their concern over the London Olympic project and other so-called regeneration schemes. more

from ASS web site, 14 June 2007: 2 articles about the PFI style robbers that are the Olympics. "The Olympic Games have displaced more than 2 million people in the last 20 years,mostly minorities such as the homeless and poor, a rights group said Tuesday..." more

from email, 19 June 2007: "Some unpleasant truths about the Olympics that the IOC would rather you didn’t know: according to the Geneva based Centre for Housing Rights and Evictions (COHRE) some 1.25 million people have already been displaced to make way for Beijing Olympics, and in Seoul, South Korea, the Olympics made around 720,000 homeless..." more

A combination of leaked documents and public policy debate has recently revealed that the British government is preparing to use the 2012 Olympic games in London as a showcase for multiple big brother police state operations and technologies. more

from email 22 January 2007: We hope to open daily from midday onwards for coffee, tea, soft drinks, cake and biscuits. Voluenteers are always needed to help out. If you are interested pop in and speak to someone. Alternatively come to the meetings on Wednesday. @ Vortex Social Centre, 139-141 Stoke Newington Church Street, Stoke Newington, London N16  more