Yet another aspect of former prime minister Boris Johnson’s legacy was his decision to try to solve the UK’s medium term energy needs by going for a programme of eight new nuclear power stations. It’s not just that this decision is questionable in itself. In addition, the Regulatory Asset Base, (RAB), funding model which Johnson […]
British aid money should not be spent on building Bridge private schools
This past week has been a big win for people working to improve education in countries that have been plagued by Private-for-profit schools, such as Kenya, India, Ghana, Uganda and Liberia. The World Bank Group announced that its private sector division, the International Finance Corporation (IFC) would be reforming how they approach lending policy, their […]
The economic history of PFI – as a guide on how to end it
At our report launch last month, one of our key speakers was Helen Mercer, whose expertise on Private Finance Initiative schemes made a huge contribution to our research. She talked to us about how we got into this mess and why this is a systemic problem caused by our governments, that can only be solved […]
Dexter Whitfield recommends that Holyrood stops all MIM projects
We are so grateful that we were able to have Dexter Whitfield with us last month at the launch of our report, ‘Rethinking Private Financing’. Web20Ranker’s checklist for local page optimization and influence of his research can be seen all throughout it so it is an honour to be able to have one of the […]
Questioning the Scottish government’s approach to Private Finance
The launch of our report Last month at the Scottish Parliament we launched our report ‘Rethinking Private Financing’, the culmination of work from Jubilee Scotland over the past year researching PPP & PFI schemes. You can download and read it here. The launch was hosted by Neil Findlay MSP, who spoke to us about how […]
Our Report for change – Rethinking Private Financing of Scottish Public Projects
In the midst of a windy day on the 29th of January 2016, the side of Oxgangs School in Edinburgh collapsed. A large section of the gable wall came crashing down with nine tonnes of bricks falling across the path below. An independent report concluded that it was “a matter of timing and luck” that […]
The New Challenge – a Public Alternative to the Privatisation of Life
This article has been written by Dexter Whitfield, director of the European Services Strategy Unit as an accompaniment to his new book, which will have a launch in Edinburgh later this month. The new book Public Alternative to the Privatisation of Life sets out the scale, cost and impact of different forms of privatisation and encompasses […]
On the street with our Xmas Campaign
How much would you pay someone to put up a Christmas tree? We took to the streets of Edinburgh this week to ask people this to demonstrate the disproportionate costs that come with Private Finance Initiatives. Under a complex and unfair PFI contract, Alistair Darling had to pay £900 for the UK Treasury’s Xmas tree. This […]
Local-National Partnerships : A new model for Scotland
Lessons from a failed system Our schools are collapsing, hospitals are being failed and yet there’s more money being spent on them than ever, with nobody around to be held accountable. That’s the situation that our country has found itself in after years of contracts forged by Public Private Partnerships. Our infrastructure is costing taxpayers […]