scottsdad

PFI/PPP isn't privatisation. It is a form of contract where a private consortium will design, build and manage a building (school or hospital). The government pays no big capital costs up front but rather pays a fixed cost over, say, 25 years. Labour coming into power in the 90s saw that they needed a huge building programme, as the tories had run everything down. The capital cost to build everything that was needed was high, so they went down the PFI route. Hey presto, loads of shiny new buildings. The problems with PFI contracts arrived about 10 years later. They had signed so many, that by the late 2000s the taxpayer was paying huge sums to these contracts. Other issues came up also: there are various PFI types (BOO, BOOT, etc) and folk signing a contract in, say, 1999 weren't too fussed about what would happen 25 years later. So when the PFI contracts end, some buildings become government property, but others stay with private companies meaning new negotiations, or buying a now-oldish building. Also, there isn't much flexibility in them. A PFI school in Newcastle closed in 2010 or thereabouts due to lack of pupils, but the council must keep paying for the upkeep of an empty school. If changes to the building are needed (as will often happen) then this is hugely difficult and expensive. In the UK we no longer use PFI but these are still very common for infrastructure projects (civil engineering and power plants) across the world.

Zahawi owes the taxman millions, but this is news.

Next to the National Archives, where things like the Declaration of Arbroath normally live.

Pepsi gives me premature ejaculation.

Once again, poor George and Ringo left in the background.

No.

Coke Zero gives me the shits.

Cadbury's tiffin is magic

The only person to ever play himself in Star Trek was Stephen Hawking. Appeared in The Next Generation

Elderly couple left distressed and angry after extension to neighbour's house in Fareham is approved

Then found that someone else did it in 2010 https://news.sky.com/story/hardest-geezer-russ-cooks-africa-run-contested-by-man-who-did-it-14-years-ago-13111201

Released on Amazon Prime yesterday (I refuse to say "dropped"). One episode in and I'm enjoying it. I never played the game so couldn't care less how similar it is or isn't; some folk went bonkers with The Last of Us over this. Walton Goggins is tremendous.

Wid x 2. Don't forget, it was them that finally destroyed the Enterprise

6 Thursday 7 Friday

Vaughn Armstrong played 12 different characters

Next such kiss..

“There is no limit to the amount of good you can do if you don't care who gets the credit.” ― Ronald Reagan

Susanna Thompson was in Star Trek Voyager The Next Generation but is more remembered for DS9's first (but not last) lesbian kiss

True story: OJ Simpson was considered for the role of The Terminator...but the producers didn't think he'd make a convincing killer

You forgot the compo face!

His train adventures have taken the sting out of the Portillo moment. He is more popular now than ever.

Peter Weller (Robocop) was in Star Trek Enterprise And Star Trek Into Darkness