It’s all getting a bit too political which means more or less nothing will be done about the London Stadium’s increasing costs other than a good moan up.
Mayor of London Sadiq Khan has ordered a fresh inquiry into the spiralling costs of the Hammers home with his focus apparently being on the retractable seating.
Having read every line of virtually every report on Khan’s proposal I don’t see any single proposal to help – simply that there will be one of those famous probes.
There’s been a lot of stuff sputed about the previous administration leaving the finances in a mess which will serve only to help the “What a bunch of incompetents” debate.
However, hidden away in the hundreds of words was this little comment so it was worth the read:
TaxPayers’ Alliance John O’Connell said: “Instead of focusing our anger on West Ham for taking advantage of this ludicrously generous taxpayer-funded subsidy, we should instead be demanding explanations from those that signed off on this agreement and ask how they ever thought that this offered value to those of us footing the bill.”
West Ham has taken the blame from ill informed reporters and London’s football club supporters groups for far too long so fair play to Mr O’Connell.
The Greater London Authority says the “final comparable cost” for converting the stadium is now £309m with a further £14m set aside for “essential enhancements”. That produces a conversion bill of £323m and final cost for the stadium of £752m.
One thing’s for sure. The suggestion that the stadium should be knocked down as espoused by one “expert” is hardly likely to happen given that is it?