Blair Going 'all Out' for London

Tony Blair said today he was going "all out" in Singapore to win support for London's Olympic bid, following a row between London and Paris over negative remarks made about France's main stadium.

With just two days to go before the vote on which city will win the 2012 Games both the prime minister and the culture secretary, Tessa Jowell, are in Singapore, where the latter has tried to defuse the tension over remarks made by participants in the British bid that the Stade de France in Paris had "sight-line problems".

Two Australians - architect Rod Sheard and Olympic consultant Jim Sloman - both made disparaging remarks about the sight-lines at what would be France's main Olympic stadium during an official Singapore press conference by the London bid team.

Asked whether Paris had an advantage by having an existing stadium, Mr Sloman, former chief operating officer of the Sydney Games, said: "I don't think it's an advantage for Paris to have a stadium. Sydney didn't, Atlanta didn't. It has been built for football [for the 1998 World Cup] not for athletics, and even though they had a world athletics championships in the last couple of years they still have sight-line problems."

Reports suggested the Paris bid team were upset by the remarks and studied a transcript of the press conference but decided against making a formal complaint. International Olympic Committee (IOC) rules ban any negative comments about rival bids.

Speaking after the press conference, which she attended, Ms Jowell apologised.

"Feelings are running very high at the moment", she said, adding that it was important to focus on the London bid and not that of other cities. She said the "momentum" was with London.

Ms Jowell and Mr Blair are hoping to win last-minute support amid signs of growing confidence in the capital's chances against favourite Paris. Mr Blair is spending two days in Singapore, before flying to Scotland to host the G8 summit at Gleneagles on Wednesday.

Mr Blair said he was going "all out" to help win support and that London's was a "very, very strong bid", but the French were also in bullish mood with the mayor of Paris, Betrand Delanoe, saying his bid team was on "Olympic form".

Responding to the criticism of the Stade de France, the Paris team's chief operating officer, Essar Gabriel, said: "It's a state of the art stadium ... built with the Olympics in mind. The roof design is based on the Olympic rings and it has a destiny to fulfil."

He said there was a perfect view of the "track and the field" from every seat.

Mr Blair spoke to international journalists today ahead of a charm offensive aimed at the 115 members of the IOC who will vote on Wednesday. Reports suggest there are around 20-30 floating voters.

The prime minister and his wife will be joined by the England football captain David Beckham later in the day, while Muhammad Ali will be backing the New York bid. The Madrid bid, considered the dark horse, will be backed by King Juan Carlos of Spain, while France has eschewed the idea of using celebrity endorsements.

Mr Blair refused to make any predictions but said his job was to illustrate that the British people were "right behind" the London bid and that it enjoyed cross-party political support.

"We think it's a very strong bid, both in terms of a fantastic games for the athletes but also a great legacy not just for sport in the UK but for the Olympic movement. The government's putting in a huge investment in sport because we think sport is crucial to health and fitness and to educating our young people in responsibility," he said.

"I think there's a sense in which the Olympics brings people together. It's no coincidence that one of the first things countries do when they have been through a difficult period is to try and bring people together through sport. For us in the UK, we would like to believe we are in tune with that Olympic spirit."

The London bid team pointed to the successful Live 8 concert at the weekend as evidence the capital could host big events, and Mr Blair said it was an "open, very multicultural city" that was "at ease in a world that's coming together".

Asked what he would say to the French president, Jacque Chirac, if London won, Mr Blair replied: "I just hope I'm commiserating with him rather than congratulating him, but it's not about the rivalry between France and the UK, never mind the two of us. All these cities are big powerful cities with good bids."

The Princess Royal, who is also in Singapore to support the London bid, said that she would feel huge disappointment if London does not win the race.

"I would feel it only appropriate to have all their [the London 2012 team] work underlined and appreciated by a successful vote on our part. I would be hugely disappointed for them if we did not win it. There is a lot of pent-up interest in the result," she said.

Bookmakers have made Paris favourite ahead of London, followed by Madrid, New York and then Moscow.