The irony is, I suspect that in true British fashion everything will actually turn out all right and the doom-mongers will be proved wrong.   Nevertheless, it is hardly surprising that many people are indifferent to the Olympics. The brand police have ruthlessly stamped on any attempts to get into the Olympic spirit - or if they haven't, the heavy-handed threats have scared many people off from doing anything to support the Olympics or run Olympic-themed events that might get people into the mood for the games. Of course it was inevitable that the sponsorship deals would go to the big global corporations, but any sense of Britishness has been eradicated by the substitution of British beer by Heineken lager and the British chip by McDonalds' french fries. The fiasco of ticket sales left many people believing they had no chance of getting tickets, so they didn't bother.

The Olympic VIP traffic lanes and missile launchers on people's roofs are no doubt necessary but are deeply un-British, and far from being reassuring leave the impression that the Olympics are another world being imposed on the rest of us - which of course they are. And the final straw - we are now told it may be too cold for the beach-volleyball players who may now wear leggings and long-sleeved tops instead of bikinis.

I am not anti-Olympics, but they will be happening 200 miles from me and I am neither more nor less interested just because they are in London than I would be if they were happening anywhere else.