Government defends beach volleyball tickets
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Not a coincidence that happened to me, but just saw this article, which may be of interest because of the way the top civil servant at the Department for Culture, Media and Sport used 'coincidence' to justify what might otherwise have been seen as prurient purchases: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-16702708
Here's the key section:
'But there was laughter on the committee as Mr Sutcliffe asked him: "I don't know if this is an oddity or not - but can you explain why there seems to be a strong interest in beach volleyball among ministers and civil servants?
"The government have bought 410 beach volleyball tickets, costing £26,000, as against only 256 athletics tickets."
Mr Stephens admitted he had thought it an oddity himself - but there was an innocent explanation.
"When we were purchasing tickets for staff to purchase, we obviously thought they were mostly going to be able to go at the weekend or on Fridays.
"Then when you look at what's available at those sorts of price bands, on those sorts of days, most of it turns out to be volleyball. As ever, on these occasions, the explanation is coincidence rather than conspiracy."'
Date submitted:Tue, 24 Jan 2012 16:39:41 +0000Coincidence ID:5773
