Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy has hit back at London mayor Sadiq Khan over the North of England's bid to host the Olympic Games, saying 'it is our turn and it is our time'. Speaking on The Northern Agenda podcast, Ms Nandy insisted her government is 'deadly serious' about the idea and is willing to live with the costs of hosting such a high-profile event.
Feasibility Study Commissioned
Ms Nandy, the MP for Wigan, commissioned UK Sport to carry out a feasibility study into the cost, socio-economic impact and likely success of a pan-Northern bid to host the Games in the 2040s. The report is expected before the end of the year. 'Then we'll be in a position to potentially move quite quickly with a bid, obviously subject to what it says, but we are deadly serious about this,' she said.
Infrastructure Challenges
Ms Nandy acknowledged 'significant infrastructure challenges' to hosting the Olympics across a vast geographical area encompassing big cities, coast, and rolling hills. She highlighted the need for improved transport and stadia, such as the Old Trafford development and the new Liverpool stadium backed by mayor Steve Rotheram for Everton. 'That sort of quality infrastructure is needed across the whole of the North,' she said.
'If we get this right, yes, there will be costs, but those costs are to meet things that will genuinely improve the lives of people across the whole of the North of England and improve the country's economic prospects as well. So we're not shying away from the fact that this may cost more to do it in this part of the country, but it aligns completely with our Northern growth objectives.'
Retort to Sadiq Khan
Responding to London mayor Sadiq Khan's comment that leaving the capital out of any bid would be a 'missed opportunity', Ms Nandy said: 'I guess I'd just say to Sadiq, that it is our turn and it is our time. And the North of England deserves this. We can do it brilliantly.'
Honours System Reform
Separately, Ms Nandy also discussed her desire to reform the UK honours system to better recognise community heroes from the North and other regions. She said she is 'quite incensed by the way that people in parts of the country like ours are often overlooked in favour of people who are either in London and the South East or better connected to the decision-makers'.
While some progress has been made, it is 'nowhere near enough', she added. Part of the task involves reaching out to a wider range of stakeholders to nominate people, collecting better statistics on who gets honoured, and making decision-making committees more diverse. She urged listeners to come forward with suggestions from across the North of England.
