The Government’s statement last week rejecting a call for a public inquiry into the Olympic Stadium agreement has been condemned as “wholly inadequate” by a coalition of 14 football Supporters’ Trusts. The coalition had set up a petition on the UK Government website, calling for a public inquiry into the terms of the deal.
“This statement only recycles arguments we have previously heard from the London Legacy Development Corporation and West Ham United,” said the coalition. “The facts we have uncovered need to be addressed by the Government. This statement ignores them. It is wholly inadequate. The Government claims the contract has been widely scrutinised. Yet the taxpayer continues to be denied sight of it. The Government speaks of ‘profits’ flowing to the taxpayer, yet we have shown that no profit comes from West Ham’s rental because matchday overheads normally paid by clubs are in this case paid by the taxpayer.”
The Information Commissioner has still to rule on whether the rental agreement cannot be released to the public because it is “commercially sensitive”. The coalition has sent detailed submissions to the ICO which challenge the assertion that disclosure of the contract would cause commercial damage.
“We are currently obtaining professional verification of new information which appears to cast further doubt on the value of the deal for the taxpayer,” said the coalition. “As soon as we are confident of the facts and their implications we will make a further announcement. It would surely be in the Government’s interest to release the entire contract. If it continues to fall to concerned citizens to uncover the facts, drip by drip, the impression of a cover-up will grow.”
I’d like to suggest we call each other Hamsters from now on, that’s what I got called on a Charlton forum and I actually think that one is quite clever and charming, much better than Wetpants or Wet Spam.
Haha,Have you ever heared of the term ‘Hung like a Hamster’ Hamburg?.That is probably why they call us hamsters,lol.Im struggling to find that charming,haha 😀
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=hung+like+a+hamster
Haha,nice peaceful night on here i see.H causing trouble as usual,lol 😀
Just to clarify, I only made the comments about finding the way WHTID is referred to on here as immature because I’ve been called names and ridiculed on here previously. If my name hadn’t ever been mentioned on here I would never have got involved or commented on that thread. I bit my tongue at the time because I didn’t want to get embroiled in a juvenile slanging match but the bottom line is that the nastiness and rivalry between two sites who support the same team is immature. Why can’t you all call a ceasefire and just concentrate on supporting our team instead? Isn’t there enough nastiness in this world without adding to it?
You put it a lot better than I did Lids, but it’s a shame how certain individuals want to carry tribalism into West Ham forums. Nothing wrong with arguing, that is part of the fun actually, but any name calling is silly, pathetic and totally uncalled for.
I may not exactly want to drink a pint with certain posters, even if they are fellow fans, because there are folks I like less than others, but I still wouldn’t contemplate throwing insults at them from a keyboard.
It is so weird fighting and bickering with fellow fans anyway. It was bad enough when we were doing it constantly over Allardyce. It’s bad enough if it happens when trying to discuss on a fan forum from another club, you’d kind of expect opposition there.
But we are all West Ham and want what’s best for the club.
I don’t know why Nigel was in such a bad mood tonight. Indeed I have met him (very briefly though), we didn’t talk a lot to be honest when I was over.
I was a bit taken aback by his tone which was indeed a bit rude, but I don’t think it was meant in a personal manner because as I said I hardly know him.
It seems even fellow West Ham fans stay very much in their trenches and stick to the opinion they have formed on the OS issue.
Maybe my article didn’t sit well with Nigel’s who is very much against the move and suspects corruption being involved on West Ham’s part.
I think I just hit a nerve there and released some OS related demons there.
He seems to be very pessimistic about the whole move while I probably tend to be far too optimistic about it and assume we have signed a good deal without dodgy dealings involved.
I’d really like to suggest though that overall we do not forget that we are West Ham fans.
Some mainly read and post on this site, others on WHTID, KUMB, West Ham Online or Hammers Chat. That doesn’t make any of us a better or worse person per se.
Read your write up HH,good stuff 😉
Here you go GW in reference to your comment this morning about Wetpants Queens comment about the the lads on here-
They have a handful of comments on their articles and a large proportion of those are dedicated to slagging off fellow West Ham fans simply because they post on this site. I find it incredulous that grown men behave in that way and even more incredulous that their puerile comments are aimed at their fellow fans.
Ok,now lets move on to tonight & Nigels response to HH’s article-
The start was bollox,
The middle was bollox, the end…. I think you get what it is.
The world is against us, Wo is us. Rubbish.
If it wernt WHU and we were paying 500 mill to build a new stadium you’d be all over the OS deal like a rash.
And to be straight to the point, unless you pay taxes in England it has got fcuk all to do with you.
Nothing personal though ;0)
Ok,now GW,apparently according to their queen it is fine writing that to a fellow West Ham fan because in real life Nigel is a very personable chap & just gets carried away on the internet.F*ck me,talk about double standards.What a joke!!!!
Ahhh,come on,leave Lids alone.She is nice.Have a pop at the lads all you want but leave her out of it Si.Rip into Banjo when hes back,he deserves every bit of it,hahaha 😀
Thanks for sticking up for me P45 🙂 x
Actually Si, I also told Nigel to chill out because he wouldn’t shout “WHAT A LOAD OF BOLLOX’ in Hamburg’s face in the pub. If you’re going to quote me please do it accurately and don’t just pick out the bits that suit your agenda.
I’ve met both Nigel and Hamburg in person and they’re both nice blokes, I wasn’t condoning the way Nigel spoke to him, I was just trying to be a peacemaker. You also failed to mention that HH said he didn’t have a problem with Nigel.
I’ve never logged into this site before or criticised it or you or GW in any way so I’d appreciate it if you showed me the same respect. We are all supposed to be West Ham fans after all.
And I’m nobody’s queen, I’m just somebody who enjoys talking to fellow fans online and I always do my best to be friendly, fair and moderate.
Liddy I’ve never conversed with you which in a way is a shame as you obviously have a genuine love of the club as much as most of us do on here. Yes I name and shame some of the individuals on your site of choice based against there blinkered attitudes towards posters, the way that individuals comments are met with statements such as ” Troll, Rabid Dog and Muppet” if they don’t conform to the elitest few’s view. I like others have never posted on WHTID to cause antagonism unlike those who post on here to simply raise the temperature and run back to report it and wear it like a badge of honour. Support of the club will divide opinions always will do, those who exist on both sites calling for the sacking of Bilic after 3 games, those that post the same crap about Brady on both sites to make themselves feel important and those who simply persecute individuals because they don’t go week in week out because of where they live.
Morning GW, we have sort of conversed actually because I remember you joining WHTID and I have commented on one or two of your posts. 🙂 The majority of regulars on WHTID are very friendly and a handful of us always make a big effort to say hello and welcome to new posters. The largest proportion of posters also have very moderate views and are always ready to listen to others’ points of view and arguments. They may not necessarily always agree but we do have very respectful and interesting debates. Admittedly there are those that are intolerant, rude and aggressive but I think all online forums have their share of those posters and it’s not exclusive to WHTID. In fact, if you look at all the West Ham forums available online WHTID is actually one of the more civilised ones, which is why I choose to post there.
I’ve never understood why posters on both sites attack each other personally and I think the Wetpants thing is really childish, as are the names that some of you have been called on WHTID. We all left the playground a very long time ago. It really is only a very small minority of posters who do it and both sites are equally guilty but I guess it stands out more on here because there are a lot less comments than on WHTID.
I’ve always avoided getting involved, I come online to share my love of football and West Ham and to have a laugh. I’ve never wanted to get involved in childish slanging matches with fellow supporters; which is why I was particularly upset to find myself being called names and ridiculed on this site recently.
I wish you would all call a truce and try to be more tolerant and respectful of each other, even if you don’t always agree on the points being discussed. It seems ironic that Leroy has just been appointed as an ambassador for the club to promote racial respect, tolerance and understanding within the local community when we can’t seem to manage the same thing within the West Ham family.
So how about a ceasefire and a nice friendly kick about in no-man’s land? 😉
Love and peace to all West Ham fans. COYI!
The annoying thing is Lids for 35 years + as a irons fan banter has always been there unfortunately in this day and age by not conforming to an opinion your deemed as a ” Troll or a Rabid Dog” not someone with a differing opinion. I like others had an opinion that SA was manager that outlived his tenure by 2 years and was roundly targeted by individuals spouting that we had no love for the club, questioning our loyalty and told to “Be careful what we wish for”. These same individuals appeared after 1 defeat against Bournemouth roundly asking for the removal of Slav posting on both sites to simply cause antagonism, these are the individuals that need to be highlighted and shown up as there own agenda seems to be more important than that of the club
Oh lighten up about the ‘Wetpants’ name,it isnt ment with any nastiness.Christ even some of the lads on there use the term sometimes when someone is getting over excitable or over dramatic.Whats the big deal.We have been called Rabid Dogs,Muppets & Animals by some on there.Do i care,not one jot,it just makes me laugh.
Maybe their is a legal case to answer against these fans groups sue the bastards
Jalouse vindictive mugs with keyboards !!!!
Zzzz Zzzzzz Zzzzzzzz
It seems to me that they think its OK for the gov to have a new inquiry at the tax payers expense ?
Why not take a private enquiry route and take the gov to court !!!!!!
And challenge them !!!
Hearn and levy and all the other vindictive muppets could all contribute I’m shore !!! (Not )
Put up or shut up !!!
I don’t know if that’s possible or not ?
But its wetting the pants off every gay spud supporters 99% !!!!!!!! Of em !!!
Bitches !!!
Some people just don’t know when to give and stop flogging a dead horse. There is no outcome that will appease them, because there’s actually nothing they want that can be done for them. If they see the commercial details, they’ll want to dig into various bits until they can work out the price of a blade of grass. It’s just nonsense, and the oxygen of publicity that a lazy media – BBC and Daily Mail most prominently this week – keeps giving it fans the flames and encourages them to waste more time and effort in moaning about us rather than supporting their own clubs.
The fact is that they don’t like the deal because it doesn’t favour their club. We probably wouldn’t like it if it wasn’t our club – but it is. Because the word ‘public’ is there, everyone thinks they get a say, but they don’t. Just like my taxes help pay for Trident and things I’d rather not contribute to, it won’t get changed by moaning, no matter how long the media stretch it out for.
The deal was scrutinised thoroughly and is legally sound. Fans’ groups aren’t ‘affected commercial entities’, so can’t appeal on the grounds of unfair state aid to the EU. Their clubs are – but will have taken legal advice and know they’re on a hiding to nothing and so aren’t wasting their time.
Honestly – if there was any chance of officially making life difficult for West Ham, don’t they all think Daniel Levy would have taken it?
Mugs with keyboards, all of ‘em.
It’s shame that it takes 14 supporters’ trusts to come together on a non issue like this. I agree with David Gold that they could be productive with time fighting other issues in football like the ‘Twenty is plenty’ campaign to cap away tickets at £20 or the Safe standing campaign to introduce safe standing into the Premier League.
These are issues that supporters should be coming together on, not whether West Ham got a great deal or not.
Do you think they will get anywhere with it Sean ?
I think the it is inevitable that political pressure will lead to the agreement being released in full eventually. So what they tell us? Well it will tell them and us what we already know that West Ham got a great deal, so what! it was a buyers market of one.
There won’t be a public inquiry and there won’t be a European commission state aid investigation but the release of the agreement in full will feel like a small victory to those opposed to our move.
After that we will move on and this will be become forgotten news
Yes hopefully the LLDC will make it as difficult and protracted as possible.
I’ve penned an article on this issue if you are interested, it’s on West Ham Till I Die aka Wetpants to some of you…:-)
Read it earlier cheers Hamburg.Good piece,though i must admit to being pretty OS’d out these days 😉
Aren’t we all 66 ? I wish this OS shenanigans could get some kind of closure, but I doubt it.
Just had a read H,dont normally venture to your main home of Wetpants but thought it would be rude not to have a read of your article.Good piece H,though i hold my hands up to much of this OS stuff being too complex for me.As soon as anything political is involved thats me on snooze mode 😀
Lol,Hamburg is having a busy day on Wetpants answering questions & fending off attacks from muppets,lol,it all gets rather heavy over there on Wetpants.com