Government response to petition re Red Arrows.

Thursday 18 September 2008
RedArrows2012 -epetition response

We received a petition asking:

“We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to allow the Red Arrows to Fly at the 2012 Olympics.”

Details of Petition:

“The Department of Culture, Media and Sport have deemed the RAF Red Arrows as Unsuitable for the 2012 Olympics because they are too British. This is a ridiculous decision and should be overturned in the name of common sense.”

Read the Government’s response:

We’re glad to tell you there is absolutely no truth - and never has been - in the idea that the Government has banned the Red Arrows from the London 2012 Olympic Games.
The Prime Minister was delighted to see the role the Red Arrows played in the celebrations on the Mall after the Beijing Games, and they have always played a significant part in great festivals of celebration in Britain in recent years. Indeed, the Red Arrows played a memorable role when they flew over Trafalgar Square in 2005 to mark London winning the Games.

Decisions on the nature of the Olympic opening ceremony are a matter for the 2012 organising committee, and with four years to go, they have not made their decisions yet. However, the Prime Minister has made clear he would be delighted to see the Red Arrows perform in the celebrations in 2012.

We asked Tessa Jowell, the Olympics Minister, to pass on her comments as well: She said:

“I am delighted that so many people have shown how important the Red Arrows are to them by signing this petition. To their millions of fans, the Red Arrows demonstrate all the best elements of being British of which we are so rightly proud. As we have made clear on many occasions, it is just not true that the Government has in some way banned the Red Arrows from being involved in 2012. Nothing, in fact, could be further from the truth.

The Red Arrows flew over London the day we won the Games in 2005 - and they took to the skies again in August, on another special day for London 2012, as we marked the end of the Beijing Olympics and the start of the run-up to our Games. I know Gordon was as delighted as I was that the Red Arrows were able to play such a prominent role, a fitting end to an Olympics that had been such a triumph for Great Britain. While it is up to the 2012 Organising Committee to decide what form the ceremonies in 2012 should take and who should participate, I am very clear in my own mind that the Red Arrows should be part of London’s welcome to the world in four years time. And I know Seb Coe shares my view.”