£7m Budget fund to study Northern England Olympic bid
The government is expected to put £7 million in next week's Budget towards a feasibility study into a Northern England Olympic and Paralympic bid, with London's mayor opposing the capital's exclusion.
How it was covered
- Sky News was the only channel found covering it.
- Channel 5, BBC News, BBC One, Channel 4, GB News and ITV: not found in tracked broadcasts.
The Full Story
A plain summary built from the channels that reported this story. Facts only one channel reported are attributed to it.
The government is expected to use next week's Budget to put £7 million towards a feasibility study into a future Northern England Olympic and Paralympic bid. Chancellor John Healey is due to announce the fund on Wednesday, and the Prime Minister and Chancellor are expected to launch the study into how a successful northern Games could be delivered.
The Prime Minister, Andy Burnham, has backed the idea. He said few things bring a country together like the Olympics and that he wanted people to feel the excitement again in their own towns and communities, not just watch it on television. He said the Games would unlock opportunity across towns and cities from north to south and would be something everyone could get behind and be proud of.
The proposed bid would use venues across the north of England and is backed by all the northern mayors, most of them Labour and allies of the Prime Minister. The possible hosting years cited are 2036 or 2040, with the 2040s also mentioned. Olympic bids have to be prepared years in advance, and the feasibility work is intended to examine the detail of a northern Games.
London mayor Sadiq Khan is not happy about the capital being left out. He said London should be part of a future Olympic bid and that it should be a country-wide bid that would deliver the best possible Games. He argued that London's existing world-class infrastructure would help deliver the best Games and that not including the capital would be a missed opportunity.
The announcement is another pre-Budget measure. The £7 million would pay for a study rather than the Games themselves. The Prime Minister is said to be very keen on the plan and has talked about it since taking over from Keir Starmer in July.
Key Claims
Claims reported during this story's coverage, grouped by how many channels reported each one. Select a dot to see the source excerpt.
| Claim |  |  |
|---|---|---|
| Reported by all 2 channels | ||
| Prime Minister Andy Burnham said the bid would be something everyone could get behind. | ||
| The Budget is expected to include £7 million for a feasibility study into a future Northern England Olympic bid, launched by the prime minister and chancellor. | ||
| Only on one channel | ||
| Sadiq Khan has called for London to be part of any future Olympic bid. | Not reported by Channel 5 | |
Channel Perspectives
What each channel focused on, with key quotes.
Sky News led with the political roll-out of the plan, presenting it as a pre-Budget announcement by the Prime Minister and Chancellor. It gave the fullest detail on the northern mayors' support and Sadiq Khan's objection to London being excluded, and it set out possible 2036 or 2040 bid years. The broadcast also framed the fund as a feasibility study rather than money for the Games themselves.
- “What's new is that the Prime Minister and the Chancellor are going to launch a feasibility study into this plan.”
- “A few things bring a country together quite like the Olympics.”
- “Not including the capital in an Olympic bid would be a missed opportunity, says Sadiq Khan.”
5 News gave the story a short bulletin treatment, focusing on the £7 million Budget announcement and the possibility of a bid for the 2040s. It named Andy Burnham as Prime Minister and used his line that the idea would be something everyone could get behind. It did not cover Sadiq Khan's objection or the detail of the Northern venues and mayors.
- “Could the Olympics be coming to the north of England the government is putting seven million pounds into finding out”
- “Chancellor, John Healey will announce the money in wednesday's budget to look at how a bid for the 2040s could work”
- “Prime minister Andy Burnham says it would be something everyone could get behind”
The Wrap treated the story as a studio discussion, with a chief political correspondent explaining the £7 million feasibility study and the Prime Minister's support. It pressed on how likely the bid was and noted that the study money would come out of the sums potentially spent on the Games. It again highlighted Sadiq Khan's demand for London to be included.
- “The Prime Minister is very keen on this.”
- “not including the capital in an Olympics bid would be a missed opportunity.”
- “We're talking about, the Prime Minister's talking about 2036 or 2040, some way off”
Who was on air
People and organisations each channel put on air while covering this story. Channels' own presenters and reporters are not listed. Names as transcribed, and the list can miss people.
- 16:22 BST
Sir Sadiq Khan, London mayor
Sky News Today · Sat 24 Oct
Broadcast Timeline
News broadcasts tracked for this story, in time order.