A British Classic

Arguably, the resemblance of the Tony Olympics to The Italian Job began with Tessa Jowell, whose husband David Mills had that wholly innocent arrangement with Silvio Berlusconi, of which Jowell herself was entirely unaware and in the wake of which she hurriedly estranged him. The anticipated traffic chaos in London, the involvement of the chirpy little criminal Jeremy C Hunt with the Murdoch mafia, and the continuing explosions at the Leveson inquiry which was only supposed to blow the bloody doors off, to say nothing of Whitehall's generally Benny Hill relationship with information technology, have all added to the impression of a supposedly endearing, if rather crass, caper comedy remake. Now the London fire brigade has done its part by allowing that great British company BMW to advertise itself with a few Minis which will zoom discreetly about the Olympic park, putting out small fires and reminding people about fire safety: a task to which London's "first-class fire and rescue service" is apparently unequal. As a sponsor of the Tony Olympics, BMW is also supplying the Metropolitan Firearms and Headbangers' Club with emergency response vehicles, while BP will be enhancing the Games' long-forgotten green credentials by pumping liquid petroleum into the catering. It is not as yet clear whether anyone will have sufficient drive and initiative to improve on the original by packing all the culprits into a Routemaster and making sure it doesn't just go half-way off the cliff.