Boris cuts £1m off cost of Beijing Games trip

My Account
Logout

Create an Evening Standard Account

Use your social network

Save time by using your existing account to sign in to Evening Standard

We'll never share your information or post anything to your account without your permission

Welcome! Sign in here

Use your social network

Save time by using your existing account to sign in to Evening Standard

We'll never share your information or post anything to your account without your permission

Forgot your password ?

Registration

* indicates fields that are mandatory

Email *

Password *

Confirm Password *

First name *

Surname *

Postcode *

Country *

Mobile phone number

Username *

Gender *

Year of birth *

When you sign up...

You will have access to all our online competitions, discounted offers and can post comments on our site.

You will also receive The Weekender newsletter sent every Thursday - it’s full of fantastic offers and ideas for the weekend. You can update your email preferences in your account page when you log in.

Other newsletters and emails

Homes & Property Newsletter - Yes I want to receive the weekly email with all the latest news on property in the capital

Occasionally we would also like to send you relevant emails detailing specific offers either from ourselves or carefully selected partners. If you would prefer not to receive these then please tick the appropriate boxes below. We will never pass on your details.

I do not want to receive additional offers and information from the Evening Standard

I do not want to receive additional offers and information sent by Evening Standard on behalf of carefully selected partners

Terms and Conditions

* I have read, understood and agree to be bound by the terms and conditions of Evening Standard

Registration

Mail Sent for Registration Confirmation.

A confirmation email has been sent. Please activate your account by clicking on the activation link sent in your mail box.

It is part of a cost-cutting drive that could see the original £4.6 million Olympics bill cut by more than a quarter, the Standard has learned.

The Mayor has dropped plans by his predecessor Ken Livingstone to take the group of chefs to showcase British food, saying they were an unnecessary extravagance.

It would have cost London taxpayers £120,000 to fly them out to China and put them up in hotels for the duration of the Games. Mr Johnson is also
travelling economy class — although he is likely to get an upgrade from BA — and moving from the £400-a-night hotel booked for Mr Livingstone to a
more modest establishment.

The saving is just a fraction of the £1.2 million expected to be carved off the original £4.6 million budget for London House — a Beijing-based
venue aimed at promoting the capital ahead of the Olympics. The Mayor also plans to scale back on the cost of sending a delegation from City Hall.

He will be taking three senior advisers, two diplomats and five official observers with him from City Hall, although Transport for London and
the Met police will also have their own contingents.

All GLA staff have been sent a memo telling them that unless they can justify their presence as being essential, they will not leave London. A City Hall insider said: "Ken was going to pay out £120,000 for the Gordon Ramsay brand but the man himself was never coming."

Mr Johnson has already dropped plans to send a red bus overland to Beijing after critics derided it as a gimmick and a waste of £500,000.

The GLA delegation is in addition to a substantial government contingent of five ministers and at least 50 public servants — with some paying £10,000 for just one week's stay. Gordon Brown, Olympics minister Tessa Jowell,
Culture Secretary Andy Burnham, sports minister Gerry Sutcliffe and trade minister Digby Jones will all travel to Beijing.