The Fat Man in the Bathtub thinks the Olympic Games are a waste of money.

"We are a nation of couch potatoes, fatties and diabetics. We drink too much, we smoke too much, we eat shit all day long and we sit on our fat behinds exacerbating our health problems, building up cholesterol and raising our blood pressure. Our youth is disaffected and rat like, hanging around trying their best to look menacing. Many of us would prefer to type gibberish on the internet than go for a run. This is a problem that needs to be addressed, but it is a problem that affects mainly those in the lowest income groups, who lack motivation, who lack access to good facilities; who can't afford membership fees. All that money spent on the London Olympics would have gone a long way to addressing and resolving these issues."

"If you believe the British press, the youth of today is aimless, feckless and hopeless, addicted to their PlayStations, lacking in respect and lacking in the emotional discipline needed to cope with a big match occasion.

If you believe the politicians, we have a broken society, in which the courage and morals of young people have been sapped by welfarism and political correctness.

And if you look at what is happening at the Beijing Olympics, you can see what piffle that is. Do not adjust your set: that really is a collection of smiling, well-balanced young British people, giving pleasingly self-deprecating accounts of how they have managed to haul in medal after medal after medal."

I'm not entirely convinced either way.... although not as confused as Boris Johnson's Commissioner for Sport who didn't want the Games in London and thought they ought to have gone to Paris. The argument I'm not convinced of is that people who spend three weeks on the sofa watching the Olympics are likely to spring to their feet, spend bucket loads on sports equipment, and get themselves fit. As for the medals we have won, I think the achievement of the athletes has been brilliant. But they didn't do rowing, fencing, archery, judo, high board diving or yachting at my school (which was probably not surprising in downtown Aston) and I suspect we've got one hell of a lot of untapped talent out there who could excel... but will they get the chance if all the money goes to the elite athletes striving for Olympic gold?