Cameron appeal after public shuns ‘ghost town’ capital

David Cameron said the “threat of meltdown on the traffic system” had been defeated, and that London and all it has to offer was “open for business” during the sporting events.

He said: “People said also that London wouldn’t cope, the traffic would grind to a halt, the capital city wouldn’t manage, that hasn’t been the case either. I think the authorities have done a good job.

“Clearly there is a challenge now though to say to Londoners, to the British public who’ve helped us to, as it were, defeat the threat of meltdown on the traffic system, to say to them now actually there is a case, London’s working well, it’s open for business, come back into the capital, come and shop, come and eat in London’s restaurants and let’s make sure that all of London’s economy benefits from this.”

Mr Cameron praised the organisation of the Olympics, amid the “challenges” of the opening days and underlined the Games’ role as a platform to do business.

He added: “I chaired the Olympic Cobra again this morning where we go through all the challenges, the problems of the empty seats, the challenge of getting people into London, the challenges of maintaining security, how much we need the army... we go through those challenges every day to try and make sure we’re getting everything right at the Games.”

He added: “I want to get business here, I want to get investors here and we’ve had some big successes. Warner Bros for instance have said they are going to make their next big Tom Cruise movie right here in Britain.”

Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt had earlier said having the Olympic Games in London was “the best possible gift you could ask for” if you run a tourism business.

After figures showed that trade in the West End was down almost 5 per cent and Mayor Boris Johnson admitted that the Games were having a “patchy” effect on some businesses, Mr Hunt told ITV’s Daybreak that the Olympics had provided a global “cachet”.

“I think we have to take a slightly longer-term view on this. If you have a business in London, particularly a tourism business – a theatre or restaurant or hotel – then having the Olympics in London is the best possible gift you could ask for because that has given London a profile on a global stage,” he said.