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		London Olympics: MEPs thank Chirac Wednesday 6th July 2005 East Midlands Conservative MEPs Chris Heaton-Harris and Roger Helmer today hailed the success of the 2012 British Olympic bid and thanked French President Jacques Chirac for his last minute intervention that they claim swung the Olympic bid London’s way. London won a hotly contested two-way fight with clear favourites Paris by 54 votes to 50 in Singapore today, a result the MEPs believe was almost certainly affected by the damaging comments made by Chirac last weekend. At a meeting with French and German leaders last weekend, Chirac reportedly slammed British and Finnish food as inedible and claimed ‘The only thing the English have ever done for European Agriculture is mad cow disease’. Speaking from Strasbourg today following the announcement, Chris Heaton-Harris said: “We have to thank Jacques Chirac for helping us to find the few votes necessary to back the London bid after his undiplomatic and crass comments made at the weekend. I’m sure that the Finnish representative in particular relished the opportunity to put his cross next to London.” “As Chairman of the Sports Intergroup in the European Parliament, I look forward to working closely with the London team over the coming years to create a successful Olympic project.” Although Chirac was quick to wish London ‘good luck’ in hosting the games, he must now wonder the extent of damage caused by his comments to a city that has now failed in three consecutive bids to win the games.