Enda Brady: UK correspondent on UK Athletics being hit by funding cuts ahead of 2028 LA Olympics

UK Sport has slashed UK Athletics' funding for the  Los Angeles Olympic cycle by nearly £1.75 million - and the organisation isn't happy.

It's an 8 percent cut, and there's concerns it will impact funding for training camps and athletic coaches.

UK correspondent Enda Brady unpacks the controversy further. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Ryan Bridge in the Brady is a UK correspondent. He's
with us live tonight in the Good Evening.

Speaker 2 (00:06):
Hey Ryan, love it to speak to you again, my friend.

Speaker 1 (00:08):
Now, Prince Andrew won't be at the Royal Christmas celebrations
because of Spygate. But did he know that he was
dealing with a spy? And do we know whether he
knew or not?

Speaker 2 (00:20):
Oh? Look, Prince Andrew generally doesn't know what day of
the week it is. He is by far of a
not very bright family. He is top of the tree.
He is the Christmas shining star in the House of
Windsor and is the gift that keeps on taking Ryan. Honestly,
you couldn't make this guy up. Look, whether he knew
or not, if I was in his position with access

(00:42):
to everything he has access to people, information, money, The
very first thing that would cross my mind is if
some Chinese business person suddenly wanted to befriend me and
promised me the sun, moon and stars. I'd be thinking
this guy's a spy. But that's the difference between having
half a brain and no brain, eyes and embarrassment. And look,
he can enjoy a very small Christmas now with his

(01:05):
ex wife Sarah Ferguson in a house that his brother
and the taxpayer are still paying for. I mean, you just,
at some point, people just need to put this guy
out the pasture. He has done nothing but embarrass himself
and his family for decades.

Speaker 1 (01:20):
Chridness, so he won't be coming to your place for Christmas.

Speaker 2 (01:24):
Honestly, I've had dinner with him once. I've had dinner
with the guy once at the Irish Embassy, and I
left before dessert because I just found I found him.
I found him rude and thick, and there we go. Yeah, honestly,
the whole spy thing is very serious. Actually ran a
personal dislike to one side. It's very serious because you

(01:47):
have a situation where this guy was clearly being groomed
by the alleged Chinese spy, and you just think, well,
hang on. The Chinese must have been rubbing their hands
with glee getting their man inside booking and palace winds
are assole Parliament, meeting David Cameron, meeting Theresa May. It
was all so easy.

Speaker 1 (02:06):
The UK government must have known that the scar was
a spy though right, or at least had suspicions, and
if so, why are they letting Prince Andrew near him
or are they actually keeping Prince Andrew in the dark.

Speaker 2 (02:18):
I think possibly someone made the decision that it's only
Andrew just led what per harm or what damage could
he possibly do? But look, the damage is done and
it's at a really awkward time. I feel sorry for
Keir Starmer now because he's been trying to build a
relationship with Shijingping and Beijing and obviously Britain needs trade,

(02:40):
Britain needs investment, so it's a fine balance and the
Prime Minister, I think will be very, very angry. He
could certainly have done without this Prince Andrew sized fly
in the ointment.

Speaker 1 (02:52):
The UK is allocated it's funding for the next Olympics,
which sport is unhappy.

Speaker 2 (02:58):
So Athletics not happy at all their investments. So six
hundred and sixty million dollars Team GB have got to
play with in terms of financing and funding all the
athletes in sports for the next four years to get
people to la. Athletics dropping by four million dollars and
basketball is getting a six million dollars and a lot

(03:20):
of people are saying, hang on, there's far more chance
of British athletes actually winning something in athletics in four
years time in LA than any prospect of the British
basketball team knocking the USA or others off their perch
in Los Angeles. It's just not going to happen. Will
be happy and I guess ultimately the decision was taken that,

(03:42):
you know, to improve participation levels as well. The cyclists
of course should be very happy. They've got sixty million
dollars to play with. So Team GB clearly betting for
more medals on the cycling track.

Speaker 1 (03:54):
Someone's laked Manchester United's team shape before the big Dabby
against Manchester City. What who did that?

Speaker 2 (04:01):
So investigation on the way. Internally. Manchester United actually won
this Darby match at the weekend in the dying minutes
of the game in spectacular fashion. They won to one.
It was a stunning win. I didn't see it coming.
There were one nil down with about six minutes to go,
but the team sheet was online twenty fours for the match.
So there's a new manager who's coming. I think he's

(04:23):
ruffled a few feathers perhaps, And now they are questioning
here who has this ended up on social media? Very embarrassing,
you know, club the size of Manchester United and whoever
leaked it, it was the actual eleven who took to
the field.

Speaker 1 (04:38):
In the Brady. Thank you very much for your time,
our UK correspondent. For more from Hither Duplessy Allen Drive,
listen live to news Talks it'd be from four pm weekdays,
or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio