Downing Street Says » G20 Costs

» Wednesday, March 11, 2009

G20 Costs

Put that the Times had said that the summit would cost in the region of 50m, the PMS said that as far as he could see this figure had been completely plucked out of the air. The estimate that the Foreign Office had given was 19m, when the comparable figure for Gleneagles was 80m. So quite why the Times felt it necessary to try to present the costs in this way was a mystery to us.

If you compared it to other summits, the figures were much higher; the G8 Summit in Japan last year for example cost $285m. When you were hosting many world leaders, there were security and other associated costs, but we were aiming to make this summit as modest and businesslike as possible. Asked what had been cut back on, the PMS said he wouldn t be getting into the detail of the organisation of the summit, but it would be clear when it happened that we wanted to keep the focus very businesslike.

Asked if he was worried that the Government would be accused of doing this on the cheap , the PMS said that if that was the worst thing being reported then we would settle for that. Asked whether the venue had been chosen with security in mind, the PMS said that it was partly for security reasons, partly for proximity to airports and other transport links and partly a reflection of the relative modesty of the occasion. Asked if the 19m included the MET security costs, the PMS said that it did include security costs.

1 Comment »

Why is the government allowing special smoking facilities for these people,when it refuses the opportunity for it’s own electorate to make up their own minds. Doesn’t the government see the £millions of lost revenue due to the closure of countless pubs, bingo halls etc. Once again the government is showing contempt for us by ensuring that political class are dealt a more favourable hand. I find this disgraceful manipulation of laws deplorable.
Comment by Michael Cartwright — 12 Mar 2009 on 1:48 pm | Link

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G20 Costs

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