Thread by @garwboy

Saw this article last week, and while it's largely tongue-in-cheek and focused on abstract issues, it does chime with my own experiences which suggest a tangible way in which the 2012 Olympics fuelled Brexit and other subsequent political shittery.

I'll explain

[Thread]

/1

https://twitter.com/guardian/status/1210181044617580544

I keep banging on about my origins in a remote working-class economically-deprived former mining valley in South Wales, but it's relevant here. Since the closing of the mine under Thatcher, the place, like many others like it, had seen steady wholesale decline

/2

I lived in one of the village pubs as a kid, and you get a front-row seat to the fallout of a devastated local economy in such a context, I'll say that much.

/3

It was like that for much of my childhood, and after I left to go to Uni in 2000. But, by the end of that decade, things were actually looking up. Community regeneration was actually having an impact

/4

The regeneration scheme in my home village actually won awards, as reported by the BBC
news.bbc.co.uk/local/southeas…
After 9 years of work, the regeneration initiative was bearing fruit, and there was a lot going on in the community

/5

Community events, cafes, art studios, time credits, shows and concerts, even carnivals, it was all back again, first time in decades. The regeneration scheme employed over a dozen people. A particularly prominent one was my own mother, hence I heard all the details

/6

They had lots of big plans to expand and grow. The time centre was helping put people on courses, enhance their employment prospects, give people hope at least, which was a rare commodity in my home valley for a long time. Things were looking promising

/7

A few years down the line, by 2012-13, it was all over. None of the regeneration work, any of the courses, the events, the local businesses set up, remains.

Reason is simple; the funding vanished

/8

It would be easy to blame austerity via Cameron and the Coalition wankers, but apparently that's not it
The regeneration scheme was a charity, and funded by grants and so on. The biggest one, it seems, was from the national lottery charity wing

/9

And at the start of the 2010s, what happened to nearly half a £billion of lottery funding intended for charities like my home village's regeneration?

It was diverted to the Olympic village in London, because the government underspent on it
theguardian.com/uk-news/2016/a…

/10

You could argue that this was Cameron and co's fault, but then they were only elected in 2010 and this had clearly been brewing for longer. Or maybe it was Johnson himself, as London mayor? I don't know.

I'd argue that's beside the point here, though

/11

Main point here is, over a decade of hard work and success in turning around the fortunes of a remote, depressed, forgotten community was wiped out. Because one of the richest cities in the world apparently needed somewhere to put up some athletes

For a month

/12

The Regeneration project limped on for a few more years. My own mother worked for months on end without pay, she believed in what they were doing so much. But in the end she had to move on to an actual paying job, as did everyone else.

/13

So you'll hopefully understand why talk of how the 2012 Olympics showed 'how great Britain is' leaves a bitter taste in the mouth for many where I'm from. I'd include myself in this.

/14

Thing is, it would be ludicrous to assume my home town was the only place affected like this. How many other remote, depressed communities outside the urban hubs got similar treatment, got the same message from the powers that be? For half a £billion, it must have been loads

/15

And that message, as Cameron was basking in the Olympic success, was basically "We need to celebrate Britain's international position, so all you little people, and your jobs and hard work and ambitions, can get fucked, because you don't matter"

/16

So if you'd been shafted like this, how would you feel when, 3 years down the line, here comes Cameron again, telling you he wants you to vote to protect Britain's place in the EU?

You'd probably vote the opposite to screw him over. I know many who did

/17

Not sure what my overall point is here. I guess it's that big showy displays of 'international togetherness' often don't come cheap. And if you force those worst off to pay for them, you can't be surprised if they start to resent the notions involved?

I'll work on it

/end

Thread from yesterday, on how the 2012 Olympics could feasibly have fuelled Brexit etc. Not a joke, genuine observation of the consequences for literally 'left behind' communities

https://twitter.com/garwboy/status/1212844993997611009