The Mayor of London Boris Johnson delivers his annual New Year's message.
Do you remember all the gloom and negativity that we heard just before the Olympic and Paralympic Games began this summer?
They said the trains weren't going to run on time and the security guards weren't going to turn up and the predictions for the weather were absolutely vile and then it all went fantastically right.
The transport system went perfectly, Team GB did absolutely brilliantly and a fantastic mood of community seemed to suffuse, percolate; pervade the entire population of London and indeed beyond into the country as a whole. And don't just remember the triumph of the Olympics and Paralympics, remember the gloom that came first because I think people are just as misguided in their pessimism about what we’re going to get from the Games and about 2013.
We're going to make sure that we use the Olympics and the success of London 2012 to deliver more jobs, more homes and regeneration for East London. And we're going to build on that fantastic sense of togetherness and community and have a real volunteering legacy for Londoners via Team London.
It was a wonderful year in 2012. Believe me 2013 is going to every bit as exciting. In the meantime, I hope you have a happy, healthy and prosperous New Year.
Comments
Hi, Happy New Year. We got
Hi, Happy New Year. We got caught in the crowd on NYE trying to watch the fireworks. My husband is disabled and found it very difficult to to be amongst a slow walking crowd (he has an artificial leg) and also being jostled. He also needs to be able to have access to private washroom facilities. In retrospect, I'm wondering whether there was a disabled person's platform with a self contained washroom nearby. If you didn't have this facility, is it likely that such a facility will be available next year? Thanks,
Hi. Happy New Year to you
Hi. Happy New Year to you too! Together with my wife I joined the fireworks 2013. We took the tube to Waterloo Station where we arrived around 10.30pm. The station's hall was completely filled up with people and the security suddenly closed one part of the rolling exit doors while the pressure from behind rised more and more. Then we followed the markings because the viewing areas were full (as expected). Finally we found a spot from which you could see a part of the London Eye. Heading midnight this street filled also up and there was no way out. Shortly before the start of the firework several people around us panicked, my wife got squashed at the wall, a city bike was thrown over peoples heads - a horrible situation. I never experienced something like that. Is there no possibility to improve the guidance of the crowd at such big events? It was surely not my last stay in London but definitively my last at the Firework Display. (btw in youtube it looks great :) ) Yours sincerely, D.