The London Taxpayers' Stadium Shambles

[Nigeyman]

up the bum - done!

 

[Craig_J]

Done. I've signed up the other half as well.

I take it that despite the records now showing her as being vehemently against it she in reality doesn't give a monkeys

 

[thfcsteff]

Absolutely. The whole debacle from start to finish has been outrageous.

I guess my point is that no team is going to refuse a free stadium if offered,and especially not if the owners are getting filthy rich off the back of it.

If this thing kicks off it will be hilarious, and what's even funnier is that their new stadium is not fit for purpose anyway.

Absolutely agreed. I have no love of the Dildo Brothers, but frankly, they'd have been macarons to have turned down that deal given that they wish to brick on their club's tradition in the first place by leaving the Boleyn Ground area.

I am delighted we didn't win and delighted with how it has turned out for us. The Olympic Stadium debacle will rumble on and swallow them up, one way or another, grinding them into legal muck for years. There are many people who could 'fall' as this unfolds. Ugly. and we will soon see if Brady did enough due diligence to make sure spammers don't get dragged down with whomever those people turn out to be!

 

[thfcsteff]

I guess the dildo brothers are putting some money their way.

I don't really have an issue with them keeping the boleyn money, they own the land, it's theirs to do what they like with. The issue for me is how much public money went into the works required to change the OS into a PL/Championship standard ground, every penny should have been from the spammers wallet.

If not every penny, the major share for sure. If they leveraged the same local monies that we have, fair enough, but the fact remains someone somewhere in local legislature has fudged up because they are there 'free' off public funds and THAT is wrong. Again, given that it's business, I would not have expected them to raise the alarm had they noticed this 'loophole' but the games will really be in full-swing when we see how smart they've been in insulating themselves form the fallout. I think some heads could roll over this. You have to wonder how many brown bag lunches have been enjoyed during the entire process?!!!!!

 

[SpurMeUp]

Done

Should get to 10,000 easy, although I doubt how much impact it will have

I was the 11,068th. Keep signing up people, takes seconds.

 

[milo]

What I don't understand is how West Ham can block other clubs requests to share the stadium i.e. us or Leyton Orient.

They can only do that in their first season in the ground. After that the owners can do what they want on non-WHUFC match days.

 

[monkeybarry]

I was the 11,068th. Keep signing up people, takes seconds.

doubled since the BBC made it a front page article?!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-33998299

it will be interesting if the press do take up "the cause" (that cause being to run the story as much as possible to sell papers with a sensationalist anti-gov story, of course).

Hopefully it's pop corn time............

 

[Gazzasrightboot]

I take it that despite the records now showing her as being vehemently against it she in reality doesn't give a monkeys

Ha! Well I did explain it to her and about two sentences in her exact words were "if it will stop you talking about it, sign me up!"

 

[Kenyan Spur]

Not a Brit citizen - gave up my passport years ago.
However, got the wife and daughter to sign up.

 

[monkeybarry]

We need volunteers;
A few ppl to set up email accounts whilst I go through the phone book and enter people in

 

[Jurgen the German]

doubled since the BBC made it a front page article?!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-33998299

it will be interesting if the press do take up "the cause" (that cause being to run the story as much as possible to sell papers with a sensationalist anti-gov story, of course).

Hopefully it's pop corn time............

Didn't realise Arsenal and Chelsea were in on it too. Thought it was just our fans.

 

[parklane1]

Over 14,000 now in a little over 24 hours.

 

[Superhudd]

Didn't realise Ar5ena1 and Chel53a were in on it too. Thought it was just our fans.

On Kumb they say its all London clubs bar Millwall.





I have pulled the following little nugget from KUMB MB.

As football fans and as taxpayers, we want to see the preservation of fair competition and full transparency in public finances.”

- Chelsea Supporters’ Trust

 

[Jurgen the German]

On Kumb they say its all London clubs bar Millwall.





I have pulled the following little nugget from KUMB MB.

And yet it's all OUR fault along with Seb Coe and Leyton Orient.

 

[Superhudd]

Press Release: Hold public inquiry into West Ham & LLDC deal for rental of Olympic Stadium
8/20/2015

Picture
Today, an unprecedented coalition of London football club supporters have come together to call for a full public inquiry into the deal agreed between West Ham United and the London Legacy Development Corporation (LLDC) for the rental of the Olympic Stadium. This call comes in the wake of the recent BBC documentary which exposed the level of taxpayer subsidy being provided to West Ham United to occupy the stadium, and the subsequent calls for a public inquiry made by MP’s Chris Bryant and David Lammy.
We believe this deal, many of the details of which remain secret even after a Freedom of Information Act request, raises serious questions about the level of taxpayer subsidy given to a private company. We are also deeply concerned about the competitive advantage given to one club over others through this taxpayer subsidy.

A spokesperson for the coalition said: “The fact that so many supporter groups have come together to call for this inquiry shows that the issues raised go beyond football tribalism. As football fans and as taxpayers, we want to see the preservation of fair competition and full transparency in public finances. This shady deal is not in the interests of the game of football and does little to promote public confidence in the way our money is being spent.”

The organisations supporting this call are:
- Arsenal Supporters’ Trust
- Charlton Athletic Supporters’ Trust
- Chelsea Supporters’ Trust
- Crystal Palace Supporters’ Trust
- Fulham Supporters’ Trust
- Leyton Orient Fans’ Trust
- QPR1st Supporters’ Trust
- Tottenham Hotspur Supporters’ Trust

A petition has been launched on the UK Government and Parliament site. A link to the petition can be found here.

Petition background:
Launch a full public inquiry into the deal agreed between West Ham United and the London Legacy Development Corporation (LLDC) for the rental of the Olympic Stadium

We believe public money should be used responsibly, fairly, and in a way which does not distort the competitiveness of independent sports bodies and businesses. Yet, West Ham has only contributed £15m towards the £272m conversion costs of the Olympic Stadium, with the taxpayer footing the rest of the bill. The club has been allowed to keep the entire proceeds of the sale of their current stadium, last valued in their own accounts at £71m. Rental is said to be £2.5m per annum, dropping by half to £1.25m should West Ham be relegated, but recent revelations show that the taxpayer will also be picking up the costs of stadium utilities, security, maintaining the pitch, and even the goalposts and corner flags - estimated to be worth between £1.4m and £2.5m a year. Considering the cost to the taxpayer, and the effect of this taxpayer subsidy on competition between clubs, a full public inquiry into the deal is needed.


END

 

[Jurgen the German]

14,000 and counting.

So what's the best case scenario for this petition?

 

[JerusalemMan]

Over 15k...

 

[SpurMeUp]

14,000 and counting.

So what's the best case scenario for this petition?

There is a debate in the House of Commons. It will be a high profile debate with plenty of media interest...which means someone will need to look like they are doing the right thing. Which probably means announcing an investigation. An inquiry or investigation is normally just a means to fob the public off however. Two years later, half a million more of public money spent, they bury a 100 page report which essentially says: there was no other option than let wet sham have the stadium.

The EU maybe a more interesting avenue - state aid and competition laws.

 

[monkeybarry]

I think getting it noticed publicly will be first step to taking it to the EU.

The BBC will play a very interesting role - not exactly bed fellows with Call Me Dave so further support for making this a commons debate is just going to see Tory guns pointed even more their way - but it may also see an increase in public BBC support as they may be seen as championing public interest journalism with impact again.

Add to that the mini left resurgence we are experiencing (Corbyn doing well and a natural reaction to a Tory majority), they may just save some of their own skin.

 

[monkeybarry]

Oh, it needs 100k to get a commons debate - which you would think would be easy as its less than the combined attendance of the three biggest London clubs.

Promotion at home games will be key.

I think it will stall at 55k.

Oh, what was the BBC documentary? I missed that.