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Police and families should get unused Olympics tickets too, says Yvette Cooper

July 30, 2012 9:58 am

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After it was announced that LOCOG were asking soldiers, teachers and students to fill empty Olympic seats, Shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper has urged Olympics organisers to give seats to police officers and their families too:

“LOCOG has said that accredited tickets which are not being used will be made available for military personnel, teachers and students. But I do hope they will also extend this to police officers and their families. Thousands of officers are working immensely hard to deliver a safe and secure games and have had no leave this summer as a result. Many of those same officers had no leave last summer because of the riots. Given that many officers have not had family summer holidays for two years in a row it would be great to recognise their hard work by offering them and their families some of the extra tickets too. Many officers have told me they would not be able to take up tickets because of the shifts and cover they need to provide for the Olympics but they would love their families who are also making sacrifices this summer to have the chance.

“We want as many people as possible to get a chance to enjoy the games and to support our Team GB athletes. We can also make sure those who protect us benefit too.”

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  • http://twitter.com/mistyblulabour dave stone

    I’d like to see RNLI volunteers and their families included on the allocation also.

    • treborc

       How about people who applied and were tuned down, how about the next games not having corporate ticket allocations.

  • 1earthmother2

    I hope London Transport’s cleaners and their families all get a ticket for doing a magnificent job.

  • Mr Chippy

    This is a practical problem because the tickets have been allocated but no one has turned up.  There should be standby queues with entry on a first come first served basis with a voluntary contribution required to a good cause.

    The real scandal which will not be exposed is when we get to the 100m final and lo and behold all the nation’s self-styled ‘great and the good’ would have proven to be sucessful in the lottery for tickets. Not only should we getting people into events but preventing others from entering.  

    To use an overused Blairite phrase we should turn this into a ‘peoples’ game by ensuring these people do not have tickets for one of the most socially desirable of events being held in order that they can network in order to drum up more business for themselves.

  • Dave

    ridiculous idea, they are being paid for their work, many people more deserving.

    • john p Reid

      Apart from specials who are working for free, and Alot of inspectors who are salaried who work a 12 hr day and get paid for 8

      • treborc

         What that to do with empty seats, being a special is your choice, it’s up to you.

        • John Reid

          never said it was anything to do with empty seats

      • Hugh

        ” A lot of inspectors who are salaried who work a 12 hr day and get paid for 8″

        Inspectors take home something like £50k. What job paying those levels do you think doesn’t involve unpaid overtime?

        • John Reid

          they earn 46,000 so thatexluded 14.9% the pay for their pension and pay 0% tax, how many other jobs do you hav top ay 14.% into your pension

          • Hugh

            They start at £46,788, excluding London weighting, which brings it up to £48,840. After two years in London you’re on £51,489.

            Pension contributions are increasing to 14.2% as I understand it – which they don’t have to pay, because they can opt out from the scheme.

            Most won’t because:
            - it’s still a final salary scheme – the type every single FTSE 100 company has decided they cannot afford to run;
            - you can retire at 60;
            - if you’ve worked in the police for 40 years you’d get about £25k a year, which would require most people to have a pensions pot of half a million quid.

            How many other jobs can people afford to put £500,000 away for their retirement?

  • Lembit Opik’s Lovechild

    I work hard. Can I have some please

  • LordElpus

    Yvette Cooper at her best. Thinking is obviously not her greatest asset.

    • http://twitter.com/mistyblulabour dave stone

      But she deserves at least a bronze medal for opening new vistas of rhetorical esteem – politicians previously lavished their adoration on the “hard working” section of the population. But working hard is no longer enough – their adoration is now reserved for those who work “immensely hard”.

      Our leaders are demanding more.

  • Mark

    Good old Yvette. She jumps on every bandwagon she sees rolling.

  • Pt15743

    No..No..No..! There are much more deserving causes than those who already get plenty of benefits for doing THEIR JOB! Everyone seems to forget that the Police and Military have signed up voluntarily for their positions, they have NOT been conscripted into service. Us mortals who contribute to the economic success of our country get NOTHING for our extremely long hours and contributions. Instead of rewarding people, there should be an investigation into the corruption that has led to this situation. It’s all a diversion designed to protect the miscreants behind all of this politically driven and controlled farce.

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