A LEADING M.P. has slammed government planning for the 2012 Olympics and questioned the possibility of a sporting legacy from the Games.

Philip Davies, who sits on the House of Commons Culture, Media and Sport select committee, believes the promise of a legacy will be short lived. The Conservative M.P, who represents Shipley in West Yorkshire, said: “You sometimes get the “ Wimbledon effect”, where people take it up [tennis] for the duration of the tournament, then go back to doing what they were doing before.”

Hear more of the thoughts of M.P. Philip Davies on London 2012, and the future of grassroots sport…

Mihir Warty, director of policy and performance at Sport England, disagrees with the sentiments regarding participation. “What we need to do is capitalise on the interest that will be generated by the Olympics, and ensure that there are great opportunities for people to start getting into sport, those who may have dropped out, but also for people to stay in sport as well.

“Our focus is on initiatives with national governing bodies to increase participation in their sport, working with other partners to increase participation in sport, working with national governing bodies to reduce drop off from their sport and also improve satisfaction for those taking part in sport.

“All of those sorts of activities should increase participation, but also ensure that we have a healthy sporting system post 2012 as well” he said.

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Councillor Geoff Taylor, Hackney Borough Council