Carillion: Prophetic words from 2004 claimed the UK would be ruined by PFI debt
Allyson Pollock in 2003 [Image from Ian Fraser’s blog site].
Ian Fraser, author of the following words, seems to think so.
He tweeted: “Increasingly obvious @AllysonPollock was right about PFI/PPP. Even RBS chair Howard Davies admits it’s a fraud. Here’s my interview with her from 2003.”
Of course, Carillion – the engineering firm with no less than 450 government contracts, that went into liquidation last week – is a beneficiary of PFI – that’s what makes these words topical now.
From the Sunday Herald, December 19, 2004:
Widespread use of the private finance initiative (PFI) to fund public sector projects is eroding government accountability and means the UK will lose its status as a first world economy, according to a leading academic.
Allyson Pollock, professor of public health at University College London, believes the funding method leads to the back-door privatisation of state-run services and spells a return to a patchy provision of health and education.
Pollock, due to speak on PFI to the cross-party group on the Scottish economy at the Holyrood parliament this Tuesday, told the Sunday Herald: “As the economy starts to slide, the government and communities will find it increasingly difficult to the pay costs associated with PFI.
“I fear that decay will set in and Britain will struggle to remain a mature economy if private sector asset stripping of public services continues. There is plenty of talk of risk being transferred to the private sector, but when things go wrong the public sector invariably ends up bailing out the private sector.
“The idea that PFI is a partnership between government and business looks a hollow joke, as private finance gets repaid while the public sector carries the extra cost of keeping services going and communities suffer, ” she said.
Read the rest of the article: Dire warning the UK will be ruined by Private Finance Initiative (PFI) debt | Ian Fraser
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