While Seb Coe makes call at Labour conference for cross-party support for Olympic legacy
Former Olympics minister Tessa Jowell has issued a public thank-you to the construction workers and contractors that contributed to the construction of the Olympic Park and venues.
Speaking at the Labour Party conference, Jowell paid particular tribute to the fact that the project was completed without any construction deaths or serious accidents.
She said: “To all those 40,000 construction workers, apprentices and contractors from all over the country who built the Olympic Park on budget and on time, thank you.
“The trades unions whose partnership with the contractors and the Olympic Delivery Authority delivered the biggest construction project in Europe with not even one reportable accident, let alone a death, of a worker at the Olympic Park. That is unprecedented and you did that. Thank you.”
Jowell also thanked the organising committee and volunteers for their work, and called on the government to abandon planned cuts to school sports funding.
Speaking at the same event, Seb Coe, chair of the London Organising Committee for the Olympic Games (Locog) praised the Labour Party for its early support for the Olympic Games, but added that the project would not have been possible without cross-party support.
He said: “Cross-party support has flourished throughout years of preparation and the Games themselves. This has been vital in securing the benefits the Games has delivered so far - a regenerated East London, a torch relay, and Cultural Festival that engaged every corner of the nation, a Games maker volunteer force that has been heralded the world over and - above all - spectacular sport and athletes that inspired young and old alike.”
He added that securing the Olympic legacy would require the same support. “A successful legacy will be dependent on more of the same cross-party focus and support. It requires the political energy, will and commitment from those at every level of our political structures - from councillors to ministers, from activists to MPs.”
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