by Kadeem Simmonds

Labour’s Deputy Leader Tom Watson called on the government yesterday to “prioritise access to sport for all young people,” as Britain welcomed home the Rio 2016 athletes.

Britain had a remarkable summer in Brazil winning 67 medals, exceeding their haul from London 2012, and are tipped for an even better Olympics at Tokyo 2020.

Mr Watson congratulated Team GB for finishing second in the medals table but has warned the government that success in four years time will not be guaranteed unless they stop selling off school playing fields and give “high quality provision” to all children.

He said: “What Great Britain’s athletes have achieved in Rio 2016 is spectacular and Labour congratulates each and every one of them.

“But we may not be able to maintain our record of Olympic excellence under a government that doesn’t support sports, sells off school playing fields and cuts programmes that give every child access to high-quality provision, such as school sports partnerships.

“It is ironic that the government chose to sneak out an obesity strategy which was widely criticised for failing to tackle a problem that is becoming a national crisis, at a time when British athletes were winning more medals than ever before at an Olympic Games that showcases what sport can do for young people.

“The Tories should explain how they will ensure Team GB achieves even greater success in Tokyo 2020 and beyond by setting out a clear strategy for how they will prioritise access to sport for all young people.”

The current message coming from Westminister and British Olympic Association (BOA) chief Hugh Robertson, former Conservative MP, is that Britain will enjoy even more success in four years time due to National Lottery funding and the “amazingly good settlement at the last public spending review” given by former chancellor George Osborne.

Robertson said: “The National Lottery funding is reasonably secure in any event because that relies on people buying their lottery tickets week in, week out and incidentally, if you haven’t done so please do so because this supports our Olympic athletes.

“The Exchequer, under the previous chancellor, offered us an amazingly good settlement at the last public spending review of a 29 per cent increase in elite athlete funding so the combination of those two things will offer us security through to Tokyo and beyond and enable us to invest in athletes in the way that we’ve done in the past to deliver success.”

He added that there was “absolutely no indication” that the government would change its mind.