Sir Brendan Foster is urging the Government to step in to help save this year's major events like the Great North Run.  The founder of the world famous half-marathon says plans are in place to host this year's event on September 12, but due to the pandemic the insurance it needs is unavailable.  "That's a big issue," he says.  He has joined forces with MP Julian Knight - chairman of the Commons' Digital, Culture, Media & Sport Select Committee - in calling upon the Government to step in and underwrite the risk of lockdown cancellations to avoid the risk of more major events following Glastonbury in deciding to pull the plug.  And time is of the essence, with spending already under way on what is set to be a celebration of the Great North Run's 40-year anniversary.  The Jarrow-born Olympian, who received a knighthood in the Queen's birthday honours list last year, said: "We're not asking for money or investment.  "We're not asking the Government to support the Great North Run.  "The Great North Run just needs it to support the insurance industry so that it can deal with confidence and issue insurance."  In the present climate insurance companies won't insure events. It's a "market failure" says Julian Knight, adding: "Insurance companies have effectively left the market place."  He wants to see in place a safety net similar to what happened in the nineties when insurers would not provide cover against the threat from terrorism. A Government-backed Pool Re insurance company was set up and is since said to have built up reserves of more than £6bn and brought in over £200m for the Treasury in the last year.  Mr Knight said the Government also did something similar for the film and TV industry last year, with the boost triggering economic activity.  "We're not asking for a hand-out," he pointed out. "What we're asking for is for them to guarantee insurance in case a major event like the Great North Run - the biggest mass-participation sporting event in the world - is cancelled due to Covid.  "Just the costs would be covered by this insurance." But it would mean event organisers could press ahead with this year's plans.  Other countries have taken action to support the event industry. Germany has set aside €2.5bn to cover events cancelled due to the pandemic and the Netherlands followed suit with a 300m Euro fund.  Mr Knight said it's not just about our cultural and sporting events but the industries dependent upon them: the supply chain which otherwise will be facing a second year without work. But he is remaining positive.  "The vaccine programme is being so speedy I don't think it's unrealistic to think we'd be able to have a Great North Run with largely normal numbers."  Brendan Foster is delighted at such optimism. The disappointment at the cancellation of last year's run has been matched by the excitement, from everyone from runners to the event partners, over its planned return - but he puts the emphasis on 'planned'.  They are now in a