Playing foul

For football fans, the mere mention of David Conn's name strikes fear into the heart. If the Guardian journalist starts looking under the rocks of your club's finances, as is his wont, you can be pretty much guaranteed that whatever he uncovers won't make for pleasant reading. So it's something of a relief that lately he's been shining his spotlight on the Tories, and specifically the rather unique way they've approached preserving the legacy of the 2012 Olympics: by imposing savage cuts on councils that have had little choice but to cut back public provision of sporting facilities.

As Lisa Mulherin of Leeds city council has observed, "This government is saying it wants to encourage sport, particularly in deprived communities - but it is doing the polar opposite." Hmm, that sounds familiar - much like it saying it wants to ensure all children get the best possible start in life, for instance, or like David Cameron vowing there would no third runway at Heathrow, "no ifs, no buts"...