Emissions

Lowri is returning to the UK on Tuesday for a couple of days, her fourth visit in just over a month. In these carbon-conscious days one can feel a bit guilty about flying.

But not very. Not when there is a UK government agency called Visit Britain whose purpose is to encourage as many people as possible to do just that. Visit Britain is proud that 2006 was a record year, with 32.1 million overseas visitors, with 2007 set to increase by a further 4%. Ten times as many as in 1964.

I will be interested to see the results of the carbon footprint consultancy for the 2012 London Olympics, if they're ever published. That will involve an impressive amount of flying. I'm not convinced about the urban regeneration effects of the Olympics either. We walked round the 1992 Barcelona Olympics site when we went there last month. It looked sad and empty and the stadium was covered in scaffolding. To judge from the DCMS press release, I don't think Tessa Jowell and Sebastian Coe were shown that bit when they went on their fact-finding mission to Barcelona last November.