I am writing and publishing this blog 30,000 feet above the Atlantic ocean on a British Airways 747 thanks to their in-plane Wi-Fi service.

Bored on my flight to Chicago I have been watching the webcast of the London Assembly Budget and Performance Committee from yesterday morning chaired by West Ham season ticket holder and Assembly Member Len Duvall.

As many of you will know, I have followed the London Stadium story since day one,  I have watched many hours of online meetings, read thousands of pages of reports and agreements and submitted tens of Freedom of information requests so I like to think I am knowledgeable on the subject.

What surprised me with yesterdays performance by London Legacy Development Corporation senior executives was their complete lack of knowledge and figures on the stadium. It was either a deliberate attempt to mislead the committee and the public or just sheer incompetence.

They fumbled, erred and ummed throughout the scrutiny hearing and didn’t seem to have a basic grasp on figures. They claimed their net loss was up to £260,000 per West Ham game when the real figure is closer to a £38,000 surplus at least on paper.

They claimed they won one of the four expert determination points against West Ham in recent ligation when in fact they lost all four arguments with regards Sky TV, draft beer, hospitality staff and the pitch surround in a contrasting colour.  The fact is, they have lost every legal action against West Ham including a number of injunctions issued by the Hammers against them. Their legal success rate is zero which doesn’t bode well for them for the high court case later this year. This is why they have wasted £4m of tax payers money fighting West Ham over the stadium in the last three years.

They also tried to defend their employment of an expensive consultant with the title Chief Restructuring Officer who earned up to £40,000 per month. They claimed his appointment washed its own face pointing to the sale of some advertising space to West Ham worth around £200,000 per year for the next two years. LLDC claimed he had mentored the existing sales team how to sell which beggars belief.

We understand that many of those in charge of the LLDC now weren’t around when decisions were made or agreements were agreed but that excuse can only be used for so long. Many of the committee members were shocked that 25-year loss-making contracts were dished out to French and American companies with no break clauses or control of spending. One Assembly member said this would never happen in the private sector and I make them right.

The harsh reality is won’t get better any time soon and maybe its time to call for the abolition of the London Legacy Development Corporation and let someone better-qualified sort out this mess.