Jowell denies Olympic win regrets

Jowell plays down 2012 comments

Olympics minister Tessa Jowell has denied regrets over London's successful bid to host the 2012 Olympics Games.

It has emerged that earlier this week she told leisure chiefs "had we known what we know now" about the economy "we would almost certainly not" have bid.

But she insisted to the BBC that she had meant people may have seen a bid for the games as a "distraction".

She said thousands of UK jobs generated from the games could be "economic gold at a time of economic need".

Ms Jowell's comments to leisure industry bosses on Tuesday evening were revealed in Thursday's Telegraph.

'Austerity Games'

Speaking at the Olympic Park in Stratford, East London, Ms Jowell defended her comments.

She told the BBC: "The important thing is to understand the whole of what I've said, not a little bit of it which has been taken out.

"What I was reflecting was that had we known the economy was going to turn down, the perception of some people might have been that the Olympics would be a distraction or not a solution to this central problem."

There is never a bad time to stage a spectacular event like the Olympics and Paralympic Games, and in the current economic climate, I believe London is extremely fortunate to be hosting the games Boris JohnsonMayor of London

The Olympics minister spoke of the economic regeneration in Stratford, saying that the creation of 3,000 jobs on the site, an overall