UK government to share financial risk for Glasgow Commonwealth Games

According to the letter, Gray told the UK government in August that Glasgow hosting the Games would be “contingent on the UK government providing a full, uncapped underwrite of financial risk connected to the event”.

In her response, Peacock writes that the “justification for your request… is less clear” and that the UK government “cannot commit to fully underwriting the risk for an event the Scottish government has committed to host”.

She added an underwrite had not been requested by Commonwealth Games Scotland and that around £27m is already earmarked as a contingency fund.

Peacock’s letter also stated none of the proposed funding could be used “to enhance the concept or ambition of the Games”, seemingly in response to a suggestion from Neil Gray that some of the extra money could go towards bolstering the stripped-back event.

Gray told BBC Scotland News that he would “leave no stone unturned” to fund the Games but reiterated previous comments that there was both a “reputational risk and a financial risk” to the bid.

He said: “We’ve set out very clearly that there cannot be a financial risk – we do not have that cover, particularly in an in-year position when the Games are being held, because we do not have the same opportunity, as the UK government does, to vary our budget in-year. We would have to find savings elsewhere.”

He added that this Friday would not be a cut-off point for a final decision being made but that “time was of the essence” regarding the proposal, which he described as “very ambitious”.