London Olympic Games and Paralympic Games Bill

I add my congratulations on the way in which this issue has been dealt with, which demonstrates that there has been cross-party support for getting the wording right throughout the Bill’s passage. Opposition Members were right to raise the matter in Committee because the Bill would have somewhat shifted the presumption on the evidence, although we also realised that there was a real need to prevent ambush marketing. The headline-grabbing words in the Bill made it difficult to escape that thought. The idea that we could ban the use of the word ““summer”” in a whole variety of contexts, which was suggested by paragraph 3(4)(g) of schedule 4, caused consternation outside the House—although those of us who were involved in the Bill’s passage, LOCOG and others realised that we wished to prevent the use of a combination of phrases and words, such as ““2012”” and ““the games””, for commercial purposes. I want reassurance from the Minister about a matter raised by the hon. Member for Bath (Mr. Foster). Will he ensure that there is sufficient flexibility for amateur sports clubs and associations and county sports partnerships throughout the country? For example, in Leicestershire the county sports partnership and others are trying to organise 2012 fun runs from now right through to the time of the Olympics. We want an assurance that no such projects will ever be caught, because they are intended not to make a commercial profit out of the games but to encourage people to participate. They are intended to encourage mass participation in sport throughout the country by garnering enthusiasm for the 2012 Olympics. We have made the right move by trying to reassure people outside the House that the presumption is not the wrong way round, and that the presumption of innocence exists. However, the regulations will still be sufficiently tough to address those who wish to profit from the games. We should not underestimate the fact that many people will want to ride on the back of the success of the Olympics, especially as we run up to the games in 2010 and 2011. If we allow that to happen, it might jeopardise the commercial success of the Olympics and the money that we need to generate through big sponsors to pay for the games. It is thus important that we get this aspect of the Bill right. On reflection, we now have perhaps the best possible way forward, so I congratulate all who have been involved on finding the solution.