Livingstone : "It was time for Lemley to go"

London mayor Ken Livingstone this morning put the departure of Olympic Delivery Authority Jack Lemley down to ill health. Speaking on Radio 4's Today programme Livingstone said: "He had major surgery.He was fine before that. After he came back he wasn't the man he was and it was time for him to go."

Livingstone stressed that costs were being kept under control despite government confirmation yesterday that the budget had jumped £900m to £3.3bn. He added that he was still indispute over the contingency needed for the project. He said his advisor Bob Kiley was of the opinion that a contingency of above 20% was "unnecessary". Treasury guidelines insist on a 60% contingency for such projects.