We're in the money! (and it's all thanks to Gordon Brown)

Evening Standard

David Cameron has little reason to say a good word about Gordon Brown. But, next year, as he takes his seat for the 2012 Olympics opening ceremony, he may reflect that the former Prime Minister has been responsible, albeit unwittingly, for an unexpected success story. London, the only city to host the Olympics three times, will also be the first in modern times to come in under budget. Not quite a golden legacy but at least, in this area, Labour has left Cameron some money - the Government will be getting back more than £800 million from its Olympic budget.

To appreciate how unexpected this is, consider the spat between the chairman of arguably the most powerful Commons committee and the highest civil servant in the department responsible for the Olympics. It came in 2008, just a year after Brown's government had finally announced that the budget for the Games had risen almost four times, from its original estimate of £2.375 billion to £9.3 billion.