Morrissey fuming over 'foul' Olympics

Rocker Morrissey has voiced his opposition to the London Olympics by writing an open letter to the public, calling the outpouring of patriotism "foul" and urging them to "wake up".

The former The Smiths frontman is refusing to watch the 2012 sporting extravaganza, which is currently taking place in the capital, as he objects to the money being spent on the event.

He also takes aim at the royal family for attending the Games and criticises the public for the outpouring of support which has been seen since the Olympics kicked off.

In an open letter posted on his True-to-you.net fan website, he writes, "I am unable to watch the Olympics due to the blustering jingoism that drenches the event. Has England ever been quite so foul with patriotism? The 'dazzling royals' have, quite naturally, hi-jacked the Olympics for their own empirical needs, and no oppositional voice is allowed in the free press. It is lethal to witness.

"As London is suddenly promoted as a super-wealth brand, the England outside London shivers beneath cutbacks, tight circumstances and economic disasters. Meanwhile the British media present 24-hour coverage of the 'dazzling royals', laughing as they lavishly spend, as if such coverage is certain to make British society feel fully whole...

"As I recently drove through Greece I noticed repeated graffiti seemingly everywhere on every available wall. In large blue letters it said 'Wake Up Wake Up'. It could almost have been written with the British public in mind, because although the spirit of 1939 Germany now pervades throughout media-brand Britain, the 2013 grotesque inevitability of Lord and Lady Beckham... is, believe me, a fate worse than life. Wake up wake up."