The Boris factor
The importance of the report on Olympic costs by David Ross, Olympic adviser, cannot be overemphasised.
It is the first indication of how the new Mayor will handle the Games and marks a decisive moment for .
That he asked Ross to prepare this report, done in three weeks and paid for by Ross himself, is not surprising.
The image of Boris the frivolous playing the fool, is so well established that he may never shake it off, but I have always held the view that beneath the exterior of the fool is a shrewd man not afraid to seek answers to questions he knows nothing about.
My abiding memory of him goes back 10 years when we were both at the Daily Telegraph, Sky had just bid for Manchester United and Boris Johnson freely confessed to me he knew nothing about football.
We talked at length and the column he subsequently wrote not only acknowledged my help, which was generous, but was a fine piece of writing.
It is clearly in the mayor's interests for London 2012 to succeed, his first term will end just months before the Games begin, however he is very anxious to make sure that if the budget as set is exceeded, or if the management of the budget is lax, as critics have alleged, then the signals are put up early in his regime. He does not want to be associated with a -style fiasco.
In that sense he is doing what the heads of all incoming administrations do, taking a look at the books left behind by defeated opponents before saying anything.
But in many other ways the report marks a profound change in the way London 2012 has been managed ever since the bid was first announced.
Until Johnson arrived at County Hall, London 2012 was essentially led by an interesting, if unlikely partnership between the Olympics minister and , Johnson's predecessor.
Although both are Labour, and Jowell was Livingstone's campaign manager for his failed fight against Johnson, at the time they came together in 2003 they might as well have been in different parties such was the divide between new Labour and Livingstone.
Their alliance over the Games was an example of very different agendas coming together in a common cause.
Jowell came to believe that a country like Britain should host the Games and she convinced her friend Tony Blair although Jowell had to work hard to convince a very sceptical chancellor, .
Livingstone freely confessed he had no interest in sports but wanted to use the Games to regenerate East London and only agreed after the British Olympic Association agreed to drop its original idea of a west London Games, in favour of going east.
It was on Jowell's departmental sofa that the bid book Budget of £2.375 billion was agreed between her and Livingstone, with Brown convinced after Livingstone agreed Londoners would also share the burden.
Thus we had the winning idea of a Games of regeneration, leaving a permanent sporting legacy, converting us all from couch potatoes to active sportsmen and women.
Boris Johnson, advised by Kate Hoey, the former sports minister who has always been worried that the money for the Games will deprive grass roots sports, is not that sold on regeneration but is keen to make sure the Games are not a 17-day wonder in 2012 and do leave a sporting legacy.
It is interesting that one of the main critical points in the Ross report is that no authority has been created to manage the venues after 2012. The implication here is if we do not know who is going to manage the Olympic Park after 2012 then what legacy can there be?
Is London not going to be like other Olympic cities dotted with sporting venues that are monuments to waste?
The other two main critical areas in the 11-page report highlight the effect of the credit squeeze and the continuing inability of the government to decide on the security plan.
, the builders for the £1 bn Olympic Village are struggling to raise the debt finance they need. After the Games the village will convert to housing but Ross is not convinced the estimated £250m will be recovered.
His worries about security meanwhile focus on how different government departments cannot agree on this crucial issue.
There is a specific figure of £838m for security in the Budget but no overall security master plan and security planning is "significantly behind" the rest of the plans.
Although Ross does not dwell on this, the problem has been the fight over the Met Police's demand for a command and control centre.
The Met wants to follow the Greek example of using to completely overhaul their country wide security system.
The organisers argue this is not an Olympic cost and should be paid by the Home Office.
There are no firm cost estimates but if it is built and deemed an Olympic cost then the final cost of London 2012 will cross the £9.3 bn projected budget.
Even without that, all the contingency of £2.7bn is likely to be used up.
Ross balances his criticism with praise, about transport for instance, but overall the report marks the moment when the game changed for London 2012.
Mihir Bose's blog is no longer being updated. You can read recent entries about ´óÏó´«Ã½ Sport's coverage and insights into the latest issues on the 
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