WE heard a reminder in the Holyrood parliament on Wednesday – a timely reminder with a Westminster election looming. It came in a question from SNP MSP James Dornan, who reminded us all of the expensive mistakes made by the Labour Party when they were in control at Holyrood and Westminster, including introducing PFI (Private Finance Initiative) contracts in Scotland.
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This question revealed that almost £15 billion has been paid back, almost five times the value of the contracts, all borne by our local authorities, impacting on local government budgets and ultimately public services.
On taking control at Holyrood in 2007, the SNP rightly put a stop to PFI projects in Scotland, recognising that they were not best value for the public purse. So this question at Holyrood was in fact a timely reminder of the financial damage Labour inflicted on Scotland – damage our local authorities and ultimately council tax payers are still paying for today.
Catriona C Clark
Falkirk
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