London Mayor Boris Johnson yesterday “demanded greater transparency in the Olympic Games ticketing process, a system he dubbed ‘the cruel engine of disappointment,’” according to Tom Peck of the London INDEPENDENT. Johnson “echoed calls made by the London Assembly in a highly critical report last week, and said that he would raise the matter at the next meeting of the Olympic Board, of which he is a member.” Johnson: “The whole country wants to see transparency." LOCOG has “refused to publish information regarding the percentage of tickets that have been made available at what prices to particular events, only stating that they will meet their target of 75 per cent being made available to the public.” Peck wrote, “Not all tickets are equal, and there is growing concern that only very few tickets to showpiece events such as track cycling, the ceremonies and athletics finals, have been made available to the public.” A million more tickets “will become available in the final resale in April, among them are 40,000 athletics tickets, some for the most sought after sessions such as the men’s 100m final.” But there will also be “an exclusive 24 hour window for those people who last month were wrongly told they had been allocated tickets to the synchronised swimming and then had them removed, so they may all be gone before the general ticket sale reopens” (INDEPENDENT.co.uk, 2/22).
COVERING THEIR BASES: U.K. Home Secretary Theresa May said that the government, police and other emergency staff are “very positive about their response to a mock July 7-style terror attack on the underground, which was staged as part of a mass security test for the London 2012 Games.” About 2,500 people were “put through their paces by the two-day test, dubbed Forward Defensive,” and much of the action “is taking place behind closed doors.” The event is "being staged to mimic" Aug. 8 and 9 , two "very busy days during the Olympics" (PA, 2/22).
