§ Mr. Alfred MorrisTo ask the Prime Minister if he will make a statement on the outcome of his further meeting with representatives of the Manchester Olympic bid committee.
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§ The Prime MinisterI am delighted to announce that the Government are backing Manchester's Olympic bid. We will be committing £55 million towards the bid and provision of sports facilities in advance of the nomination. This will contribute to the construction of the Olympic arena and a national cycling arena and will allow us to acquire and prepare the Olympic stadium site.
We aim to use the games to spearhead the regeneration of east Manchester. We will now work urgently with Manchester city council to identify how the full range of Government programmes can be brought to bear for the regeneration of the area and the best arrangements for securing delivery of this and the Olympic facilities themselves.
Success cannot be guaranteed: the competition will be intense. But we intend to win.