Still 5 years to go and the 2014 Commonwealth Games are already dearer than building of the Scottish Parliament says the HootsMon.

ORGANISERS of the 2014 Commonwealth Games have insisted their lasting benefits will far outweigh rising costs, after they were forced to pump in an extra £81 million, taking the budget to £454m.

The increase – making the Games £23m more expensive than the cost of building the Scottish Parliament – was described as “appalling” by the Scottish Conservatives’ deputy leader Murdo Fraser.

Two years have passed since Glasgow beat Nigerian capital Abuja to host the event, which will be held over 11 days, starting with an opening ceremony on 23 July, 2014.

Now there’s an idea. Could we give it back to Nigeria? After all, they’ve got plenty of money over there, what with all of those wives of Cabinet Ministers, Army generals and bishops emailing TheEye every day with tales of woe involving millions of dollars in gold stuck in a deposit box somewhere.

Or we could split the difference and use Nigerian money to fund it ourselves. All it needs is Alex Salmond to reply to one of those emails with his bank account details and a small downpayment to grease the wheels – simples!