Can someone explain in words of one syllable?

Reading the news on the BBC website earlier, I saw that the Olympic flame is being flown into the UK later today in a specially liveried plane, with a special hand picked crew, with other specially trained members on board (one of whom is a fire officer), and that it is flying into RNAS Culdrose which required additions to the national air traffic control database, as well as a test flight so that the pilot and ground staff could have a dry run (there is no electronic guide slope at the air base, and pilots have to be 'talked' in).

Now, whilst I can understand some of the logical and sensible measures such as the fire officer and the test flight, why the hell is there even a need for all this in the first place? Nearly every corner shop or petrol station I can think of sells matches of lighters, and if they weren't man enough for the job I am sure that an electronically ignited blow torch from B&Q would have done the job!

Seriously, why are we sending a jet plane halfway round the world and back to come home with a few oil filled lanterns that are lit? The world is allegedly skint, not to mention the 'climate change' arguments that we get when it comes to daring to use fuel to run our cars or heat our homes (or greenhouses) - yet we can spend goodness knows how many thousands of pounds to bring home a wee flame that would be put to shame by my gas cooker!

This whole Olympics farce really winds me up!

 

As if the Greeks aren't in enough trouble already, now we jet over and pinch their fire ...

 

Totally understand Thanks

Until last year, I lived in Greater London and had to pay for the Olympics through my council tax, which I am sure we will all agree is as close to daylight robbery as you can get. We are (were) on the opposite side of London, so would never be likely to use any of the so called 'legacy' yet we were forced to pay for it, and that is made all the worse by the fact that local roads etc are in a terrible state.

When I see things like this where a small fortune spent on dressing up a plane, the fuel, and the manpower, I cannot help but wonder how many roads that money would repair, or how many houses could be built and people housed.

Seems this world is only skint when the rich folks want it to be.