London Olympics 2012: A musical farewell to the world

After 16 days of sporting heroism which made London the centre of the world, the curtain fell on the Olympics last night with a display of exuberant – at times anarchic – revelry that had but one message: "Goodbye world, we hope you had as good a time as we did. Now let's dance."

With 29 gold medals – the last arriving just hours before the grand finale in the Olympic Stadium – reflecting the glory of the best performance by a British team in 104 years, the Closing Ceremony delivered the grandest of grand hurrahs for London 2012.

From a rendition of "God Save the Queen" introduced by Timothy Spall playing Winston Churchill emerging from a miniaturised Big Ben, to Russell Brand on top of a trippy bus and Freddie Mercury's voice delivering "Bohemian Rhapsody" from beyond the grave, this was Britain showing that as well as putting on the greatest show on earth, it can party too.

Just as Danny Boyle's opening jamboree had enthralled the nation with his heady cocktail of the sublime, a skydiving monarch and Mr Bean, so artistic director Kim Gavin, a ballet dancer turned stadium tour impresario, provided a sumptuous feast of British creativity and eccentricity.

Gone was the didactic splendour of the Opening Ceremony with its giant NHS beds and Satanic Mills, Jarrow marchers and Sir Tim Berners Lee. This was all about having fun and, after putting on an unquestionably fine Games, London had reason to celebrate.

The Who, those titans of universally recognised but uniquely British pop, were due to bring the three-hour performance to a climax with a thundering rendition of "My Generation".

A week after his wife lost their daughter, Poppy, in a still birth, Take That's Gary Barlow was due to perform "Rule the World" with the band in a dramatic sequence leading to the extinguishing of the Olympic Flame.

But, reserving the right of this host nation to bamboozle the rest of the planet, there was also the downright wacky. The Reliant Robin immortalised in the classic comedy Only Fools and Horses made an explosive appearance followed by the sight of 160 Household Guards marching behind Madness while playing an instrumental version of Blur's "Parklife".

And do not even mention the multi-coloured octopus and the taxi ballet.

Gavin, speaking before the ceremony, said: "We wanted to host a celebration of all that's good about London, British people, our music and our culture. And capture the spirit that's inspired so much global creativity over the past 50 years."

Watched by dignitaries including Prince Harry, representing his grandmother, and Jacques Rogge, the President of the International Olympic Committee, the extravaganza began with a shout of "It's nine o'clock" from the capacity 80,000 crowd and Scottish R'*'B singer Emeli Sande on a purposely monochrome stage belting out her anthem to success "Read All About It" from the back of a rubbish truck.

And then it ended. Speeches from London 2012 chairman Sebastian Coe and Jacques Rogge heralded the official close of the Games as Thomas Heatherwick's copper petal cauldron was finally extinguished after 16 days of constant burning. The only thing left to do was sing away the end of the night and that honour was given to The Who accompanied by the ballerina Darcey Bussell. Goodbye world. Thanks for coming.

Sourced: http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/olympics/news/london-olympics-2012-a-musical-farewell-to-the-world-8037279.html

Olympics not an easy target - MI5

In an assessment of the security threat facing the UK, MI5 Director-General Jonathan Evans predicts a successful and memorable London Olympics but expresses growing concern about Iran.

The head of MI5 says the Olympics Games is not an easy target for terrorists, writes Channel 4 News Home Affairs Correspondent Simon Israel.
Jonathan Evans told an invited audience in the City last night that while there's no such thing as guaranteed security he predicted a successful and memorable games.
The director general used his first public speech in nearly two years to deliver an updated broad assessment of the terror threat to the UK and its citizens.
But again there are no numbers - no quantifying of the threat, no details on the plethora of networks plotting some attack or other.
The Olympic Games, he says, have dominated much of the thinking but added: "..the Games are not an easy target, and the fact that we have disrupted multiple terrorst plots here and abroad in recent years demonstrates that the UK as a whole is not an easy target."
'Threat intelligence'
Inside venues are considered the most diffcult given the security arrangements, but an attack anywhere would be seen as an attack on the Olympics.
The security services have been planning for the worst, another 7/7 or a Mumbai-style attack - even another 9/11 (hence the proposal to place surface-to-air missiles on top of tower blocks).

They haven't stopped trying, but we have got better at stopping them. Jonathan Evans

But that is not what they are currently predicting. There are suggestions there's been a significant increase in "threat intelligence" but little of it amounts to credible plots.
In Monday night's speech the head of MI5 said "in back rooms and in cars on the streets of this country there is no shortage of individuals talking about wanting to mount terrorist attacks here".
The security think-tank Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) has indentified 43 potential plots or serious incidents since 9/11.
MI5's assessment is there's been 11 credible terror plots is that since then, which amounts to one a year.
Mr Evans said disruption and supression is leading to a form of stalemate - "They haven't stopped trying, but we have got better at stopping them."
Concern about Iran
Channel 4 News understands that close to 600,000 people will have gone through accreditation process by the time the games get underway and out of that only a a tiny number have come up on MI5's radar.
Security sources refused to say if some of the "hits" were individuals assigned to visiting international teams.

A return to state-sponsored terrorism by Iran or its associates, such as Hezbollah, cannot be ruled out. Jonathan Evans

The head of MI5 also expressed growing concern about Iran.
It's been revealed that MI5 has in the last year has significantly reinforced a dedicated unit, fearing that crunchtime may arrive next year over Iran's nuclear intentions. and the UK is widely seen as a potential target given recent attempted terrorists plots against Israeli interests.
He warned: "A return to state-sponsored terrorism by Iran or its associates, such as Hezbollah, cannot be ruled out as pressure on the Iranian leadership increases."
He also described the extent of cyber espionage and cyber crime as astonishing - on an industrial scale, and MI5 was currently investigating attacks on more than a dozen companies.
One un-named example he gave was a major London listed company which lost £800m, not just through intellectual property loss but also from commercial disadvantage in contractual negotiations.

Sourced: http://www.channel4.com/news/london-2012-not-an-easy-target-says-mi5-boss