Gordon Brown will skip Olympics opening ceremony

In what his spokesman swears is not a jab at Beijing but a way of saving taxpayer money, Gordon Brown announced today that he’ll skip the August 8 Olympics opening ceremony, opting to attend the closing ceremony instead. Perhaps those loud protests in London had some effect? And I’d put money on a similar announcement ...

In what his spokesman swears is not a jab at Beijing but a way of saving taxpayer money, Gordon Brown announced today that he'll skip the August 8 Olympics opening ceremony, opting to attend the closing ceremony instead. Perhaps those loud protests in London had some effect? And I'd put money on a similar announcement from Sarkozy any day now.

In what his spokesman swears is not a jab at Beijing but a way of saving taxpayer money, Gordon Brown announced today that he’ll skip the August 8 Olympics opening ceremony, opting to attend the closing ceremony instead. Perhaps those loud protests in London had some effect? And I’d put money on a similar announcement from Sarkozy any day now.

Carolyn O'Hara is a senior editor at Foreign Policy.

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