The waterways cut (pun?) happened because the waterways (most of them) are administrated by DEFRA, and DEFRA bolloxed up the EU farmers' payment scheme. The EU fined them a third of a billion pounds. To make 'savings' they cut money- a small amount for DEFRA, a huge amount for the waterways- from the BWB budget.

Having said that, the Olympics are not only swallowing a disproportionate amount of lottery money and other public funds, but it is being inevitably gold- plated by home- counties chauvinists. The original proposal for the canoe slalom course had to be abandoned for variouys reasons. Nottinghamshire County Council pointed out that Britain already has an Olympic standard slalom course at Holme Pierrepont near Nottingham. The Olympic Committee thinks that Nottingham is too far from London.