This weekend sees the beginning of the Cultural Olympiad, the £40m marketing drive by the government to persuade us all that the Olympics are good and hey-you-don’t-even-need-to-be-sporty-to-benefit. Cynicism aside, the idea is really sound. At worst it means that we all get a bit of extra art/theatre/music, but if all goes according to plan it will serve to lift the whole Olympic thing into a nation-affirming revelation. Today’s launch saw former Olympic medallists, including Dame......

Could EMI be moving to Croydon? No, we don’t think so either. The Cultural Olympiad is afoot: the launch on the 26th – 28th September looks set to be a weekend of pretty special events. And construction on the cupcake is proceeding apace. Fingers crossed an’ all. Specially as 9 out of 10 Brits currently verge towards pessimism on the games front. What housing slump? The super-prime end of the market is thriving, thank......