Can we now all get on and be proud of our Nation and its history?

[youngmafbog]

With the final parade today through London Great Britain has shown that we are a proud nation. Proud of our flag, proud of our heritage and proud of success.

The BBC and guadianista's must be choking on their Muesli, but have the people finally spoken? Success, Union jacks a display of our heritage in front of the world, whatever next eh?

I'd like to take the opportunity to thank our athletes for such a stunning performance, well done and here's to Brazil in four years time.

[mike11111]

"Toggle to the top & rope to bottom..."

You can't beat those good old English pastimes!

[emmie]

A truly brilliant games, we were privileged to see some of the Paralympics, congratulations to all our wonderful athletes.

[jno]

how's the moaning leftwing Daily Mail feeling now? Remember how they complained before the games about "plastic Brits" - including Mo Farah?

[emmie]

did they, i read the paper now and then, and not sure that was the case, it's not a left wing paper by the way. You and others seem to get this wrong everytime. Apparently it's read by colonel blimp types, those that inhabit the shires, go hunting, shooting, riding roughshod over the hoi polloi, or so some would have us believe, patent codswallop. I don't give a monkeys who reads the mail. For the best part of the Olympics, Paralympics they have covered their pages with athletes winning, losing, crying, laughing, and everyone in the stadiums having a brilliant time. I know that because i have kept every copy of the papers they have produced up till now. Tomorrows edition will be full of today's ceremony, i am only sorry i wasn't able to get down there today.

[emmie]

we do have plastic Brits, they are the bstards who inhabit our islands, those who stick bombs on trains and buses, and those who are constantly slagging off the country in every conceivable way, shame because by and large, and yes we have loads of faults, it's a great place to live.

[jno]

here you go, em

http://www.dailymail....ly.html#ixzz234HPwDs1

[emmie]

sp, it was channel 4 who showed the Paralympics, don't forget that, because the biased BBC didn't put in a decent enough bid, not expecting a decent enough audience. I admit the ads were irritating, but at least we didn't have to listen to prats like Matt up his own backside Baker.

[emmie]

so they did, did any other paper, news outlet do the same, i suspect so. Just the same as they do when a foreigner plays for a national team. You wouldn't have the wretched premier football league without foreign players.

[jno]

well, the Guardian and the BBC didn't, and they're the ones the OP says must be choking on their muesli. I'm suggesting he's looking 180 degrees in the wrong direction.

[emmie]

i would hope that we can all celebrate in the achievements of all the participants, the games has been a resounding success. I was sceptical because of the level of traffic and the public transport system, which usually groans under the weight of the people who live and work here, but for most of the times i had to use it, they coped well enough.

[emmie]

the point is it wasn't one single event but many. And we have had a good summer, Diamond Jubilee, Olympics, Paralympics, and this weekend we had a very entertaining Thames festival, 74 concerts of the Proms, Last Night was wonderful, so i reckon it's time we patted ourselves on the back.

[ichkeria]

It would be amusing if someone with a bit of patience was to trawl through old questions and come up with a top twenty pre-Olympic moans on AB. More indeed if numbers and quality of moan merited it. All no doubt by anti-British 'lefties'

[emmie]

i have already stated mine, so don't bother, i wasn't in favour partly because living here is a nightmare already, too many people, traffic, and a never ending problem with public transport.

[emmie]

and i haven't changed my tune about the amount of people, it's a constant nightmare, where once we had tourists here some of the time, now we have them all year round. And London is of now one of the most expensive places to live on the planet.

[sp1814]

em10

The Daily Mail was noticeably anti-Olympics right up until the start of the games.

Then it naturally had to change it's stance, because it was so out of step with the thoughts of many of its readers.

I live and work in London and have to say - zero difference in my journey to work. Absolutely no impact at all - and I work in Kings Cross, which is a major interchange for the games.

It all seemed like good news to me. We nailed the opening and closing ceremonies, we did ridiculously well I'm the medal table, our transport system coped admirably, the events themselves were impressively staged.

Britain should grin for a few moments.

[sp1814]

em10

But looking at it from a different angle - tourism brings a lot of money into the country and is good for our balance of trade figures.

I completely agree that negotiating Oxford Street has got increasing tiresome because of sheer numbers, but I'm kinda happy to put up with that if it means that those working in the service, tourism, transport, retail and restaurant industries can benefit.

Better to have them working and contributing tax and NI than on the dole, surely?

[emmie]

the athletes did brilliantly. the transport people had numerous bribes for doing their job, or a bit more than normal.

It was the gamesmakers who should get a massive round of applause. 70 thousand volunteers who did it for nothing but the pleasure of helping others. I couldn't be one of them, wish i could have. Many Londoners were sceptical because they had been bombarded with messages over and over again, about staggering their journeys, that it would be difficult on the public transport system, games lanes entirely for Olympic games vehicles and so forth. that info was coming from local and central government.
So if some of us seemed fed up at first it was largely because of that.

[emmie]

it isn't just Oxford Street, it's almost any part, or at least where there are places to attract them. So the only way to avoid it is not to go there. Shame as i used to love Covent Garden.

[jno]

spot on, sp1814; I loved it and I'm not even British. But I've never known a London that wasn't full of tourists, not in more than 30 years. If you don't like tourists, you need to consider moving somewhere else, because they'll always be here.

I will say that some of the worries beforehand were fully justified: the Games ticketing system was a mess, and the security foul-up was seriously embarrassing. I hope G4S are never put in charge of as much as the vicar's te-party, ever again.

But the rest was just fine.