Author Archives: Colin Gell

Colin Gell

Opinion: We must end our silence on brain gain

By Colin Gell | Tue 20th August 2013 - 8:41 am

There is a certain phrase that summarises the immigration debate for me;  the one that goes ‘I’m not racist but….’  that gives people the opportunity to make comments that could otherwise be offensive.  We’re now seeing a sophisticated anti-immigration stance from other parties where they simply structure in racist comments and defend it as just being anti-immigration. For me this is what they tried to do with the ‘go home’ van ad campaign.

However as a party we’re not putting up much of a fight against this, and have been silent for some time, unless we’re responding to the campaigns of …

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Colin Gell

Opinion: The London 2012 Olympic Games and Paralympic Games post-Games review

By Colin Gell | Tue 23rd April 2013 - 4:32 pm

812I wrote a little article on 9th April that related to sports funding and its relationship with the nation’s health. If I’m honest, I really just pointed out that there were things that simply didn’t add up.  A new  post-Games review was published over this weekend, which for the first time sees the government considering and attacking the impact of funding.

The report indicates that as an inspiration the games was a huge success, and its narrative is one that wants to build out from this.  This strategy has to use …

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Colin Gell

Opinion: Should we change the way sport is funded, or risk the health, and economy of the country?

By Colin Gell | Tue 9th April 2013 - 8:55 am

scalesUK Sport’s World Class Performance Programme is the centrepiece of sports funding in the UK, and competition for funding is fierce. On top of this, localised funding from councils for leisure centres, athletic tracks, and swimming facilities seem to follow this trend, and are likely to support Olympic/Paralympic training facilities over other sports.  The results of this mean that we are able to punch way above our weight on the Olympic and Paralympic stages.

The trouble with this strategy is that funding is only available to the few, and those who are unlikely to gain medals are penalised. Even those who are able to fund themselves may be denied Olympian status, despite hitting official Olympic qualifying standards in the UK, if the British Olympic Association deems them not capable of finishing on the podium. This is a harsh message, and means that funding for grassroots sports in the UK is very low compared to other countries in Europe.

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