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An Idiot's Guide to the PFI

By Paul Foot

Norman Lamont tinkered with it. John Major approved it. But the intellectual thrust for the idea of the Private Finance Initiative (PFI) came from David Willetts, the Tory frontbencher nicknamed 'Two Brains'.

This is the story of the PFI: how it became a jewel in the crown of New Labour, its savings, its costs, its pitfalls and windfalls, and how it changed the face of British accountancy and British politics.






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Private Eye Issue 1636
In This Issue
Tories prove they are the party of diversity… Hitler denies link with Trump… Labour starts giving free jabs to public… Plunging birthrate hits Nurseryland… World furiously warns Israel it will do nothing… Nadine Dorries: My Struggle with Bozempic… Dame Jilly Cooper: Me and My Spoon… Boris Johnson denies his memoir ever happened… Elon Musk’s Diary, as told to Craig Brown

Generation game
Old Sparky on the fading of the Drax flame

A new leaf
Why the Mail has mellowed on CBD products

Budget budge
Which Labour MP wanted a “radical overhaul of the tax system”?

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Private Eye Issue 1635
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