PLEASE NOTE "THE ANDREW MARR SHOW" MUST BE CREDITED IF ANY PART OF THIS TRANSCRIPT IS USED James Landale interviewed Shadow Olympics Minister Tessa Jowell. JAMES LANDALE: Tessa Jowell, if I can turn to you. We've heard the optimistic outlook there from Kelly. Let's just look, first of all, at ticketing. There's still a lot of people right now whose expectations were raised that they were going to get a ticket. They haven't got a ticket. What went wrong and what else is being done about it? TESSA JOWELL: Well nothing went wrong, James. What happened was that there were twenty-two and a half thousand applications for six and a half million tickets. And so we are facing I mean the amazing prospect of being the first sell-out Olympic Games. The only sport as of now for which tickets have been released and tickets available that hasn't sold out is football, particularly the football outside London. There will, however, be another a bit over a million tickets released at the end of the year, the beginning of next year, and I know that everybody's aim is to make sure that all those people, the 2.2 million people who applied for tickets back at the beginning and have been disappointed get tickets. The extent to which that is possible is obviously a matter of the arithmetic, but the fact is that there is a will to address that disappointment. But let's not forget that the fact that many people haven't got the tickets that they wanted is a function of the enormous enthusiasm that people right round the country have shown. JAMES LANDALE: In the light of events in Norway this weekend, how concerned are you that the Olympics will be a target for terrorism and what's being done about it? TESSA JOWELL: Well I was obviously very interested to listen to the piece on Norway, and obviously Jacqui Smith's comments. Jacqui Smith was Home Secretary when she and I were working on the early stages of the security plan. That has proceeded after the election in a pretty seamless way. And all I can say is that you know the aspects of the Prevent strategy to engage young people who might be at risk of radicalisation, but also the mobilisation of police forces not just in London, from around the country, is in advanced state of organisation. And we can take confidence I think from the fact that the rest of the world looks to our police and security services at times like this for advice on how to do it … JAMES LANDALE: But … TESSA JOWELL: … so we are confident in the capability and vigilance of course is going to be absolutely vital. But everybody should be assured that the security planning is very well underway and it's in very good hands. JAMES LANDALE: Even if the Metropolitan Police is in the state it is now? You retain that confidence? TESSA JOWELL: Yes, I think that it is absolutely right that a successor to Sir Huw (sic) Stephenson needs to be appointed as quickly as possible … JAMES LANDALE: Yuh. TESSA JOWELL: … and obviously he has been the figurehead. But underneath his level, you know the work goes on; and the work goes on not just in the Met, which is the lead police authority, but also with the Olympics security executive within the Home Office. JAMES LANDALE: Tessa Jowell, thank you very much indeed. INTERVIEW ENDS
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