London ready for the world

London is ready! I went across from the UAE for a day last week and London looked fabulous. They were out in full force turning the central London parks from celebrating the Diamond Jubilee of Her Majesty The Queen into venues for screening the greatest show on earth, the 2012 Olympics. The Jubilee celebrations were wide-scale and the seamlessness of it all (rain excluded) — and that of the more recent Torch Relay — should give everybody that is planning to visit London for the Olympic and Paralympic Games in just a few weeks every confidence that the UK is absolutely ready for the world.

Staging the Games is a massive undertaking — it’s the biggest logistical exercise in post-war Britain, and the equivalent of staging 46 simultaneous World Championships over just a few weeks. Since winning the bid in 2005, the Government, LOCOG, the Mayor of London and hundreds of organisations have been working together to get the country ready, with new levels of collaboration between transport operators, security agencies and the police.

Their plans are designed to deliver on two key aims. First, to make sure spectators, athletes and officials can enjoy a safe, secure and enjoyable Games; and second, to make sure the rest of the country can go about their business with the minimum of disruption.

The Olympics have brought amazing changes to the city I was born in. There has been multi-billion pound investment into the tube and rail infrastructure, including extra capacity, upgrades and extensions to several underground and overground train lines; and a new extension to the Docklands Light Railway. But it’s not just the big ticket items that count. It’s really important that your arrival in a country is smooth and I was really pleased last week that I got through immigration at Heathrow Airport in about two minutes (and I don’t use any special Ambassadors’ queue!). The airport authorities and the UK Borders Agency have thought about everything from extra staff, special lanes and a temporary Games Terminal to cope with the high volume of arrivals and departures.

Security is paramount and you would be amazed at the level of planning around security preparation. London has in place the most extensive security plans ever developed for a sporting event. These include measures against cyber threats and ticket fraud; upgrades to the capability of police control rooms; extra capacity of the Airwave radio system which enables all duty officers working on or around Olympic venues to use it as their primary source of communication; and investments into the police service’s now operational Olympic Intelligence Centre and police-led multi-agency National Olympic Coordination Centre.

The construction of the Olympic Park, one of Europe’s largest ever construction projects, is complete — as we always promised — on time and within budget. I am proud of the Abu Dhabi connection here — the ADNEC owned ExCel Centre is the only venue that will host an Olympic event every single day of the Games. And meeting the construction deadlines was just part of our goal — there has been a comprehensive testing programme so that every venue, system and process is ready and resilient. Covering all Olympic sports and disciplines and six Paralympic sports, 42 test events have been staged in 28 venues. During these tests over 350,000 spectators saw world-class sport, with 8,000 athletes from more than 50 countries competing.

And perhaps most important of all is the readiness of the athletes. Preparations are in place for the largest peace-time catering operation in the world during Games time; and over 250,000 square metres of accommodation are ready for more than 23,000 athletes and officials at the Olympic and Paralympic Village. There will be a great show for Emirati fans — not only will there be some thrilling football, including the UAE/UK match in Wembley on July 29 — but they’ll be on the edge of their seats cheering on their heroes in shooting, judo, weightlifting, athletics and swimming. As for Team GB we have seen the highest ever contribution of public funds spent on supporting their preparations.

And whilst everything is clearly ready there is absolutely no complacency. Every agency involved in supporting the Games is 100 per cent focused on the task in hand to make sure we host an incredible Games.

Once over, London will have been the only city ever to host the Olympics three times. On each of the previous occasions — 1908 and 1948 — it has left a permanent impression on the country and on the wider Olympics movement; from what I can see 2012 will do so again. This will be a fantastic summer, with opportunities for millions of people to join in and share in the excitement. The UK has invested to make the most of this very special moment — and to secure the greatest possible lasting benefits for people in all parts of the UK and beyond. I very much hope you will join us.

Dominic Jermey is the UK Ambassador to the UAE.