Mitt Romney Airs Concerns Over Olympics Security
LONDON (CBS) - On the eve of the London 2012 Opening Ceremonies, Mitt Romney voiced personal concerns regarding the city's preparedness for the Games. Considering that the UK is about to undertake the world's largest sporting event, it inevitably raises the question: can London clear the Olympic security hurdle?
Romney cited private security firm G4S's inability to meet its Olympic personnel quota as one of the issues he found "disconcerting."
Read: WBZ London Eye Blog
"The stories about the private security firm not having enough people…that obviously is not something which is encouraging," he said.
Mayor of London Boris Johnson dismissed Romney's jab at a concert in Hyde Park yesterday.
"There's a guy called Mitt Romney who wants to know if we are ready," Johnson cried to a crowd of 60,000 people. "Are we ready? Yes we are!"
More: Olympics Coverage From London
Almost 7,000 British military troops were called in last minute to provide additional security, as G4S chief executive admitted two weeks ago that he could not guarantee the firm's promised number of trained and screen security guards. The extra troops bring the total number of British soldiers deployed for Olympic security to 18,000.
Victoria Price is a student at Boston University, spending her summer internship reporting from the London Olympics for CBS Boston.
