Jowell named Olympics minister
Tessa Jowell has been made minister for the Olympics alongside her current responsibilities as minister for culture, media and sport.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) today granted London the right to host the games in 2012 following a tense vote in Singapore this morning.
Following the decision, the government will be introducing an Olympics bill into parliament in the next week. A new National Lottery game will also be launched soon to help fund the event.
Speaking earlier, Ms Jowell said the IOC’s decision ensured sport would now be “completely central to government policy”.
She used the example of the 30 children from east London, which is set to benefit most from the games, who had travelled to Singapore with the London 2012 bid team.
“I said: ‘So how many of you are going to go for gold medals?’ They all put up their hands. That’s what this is for,” she told BBC News.
