pfi - search and rescue for sale
WORKERS, JULY 2005 ISSUE
In another about-turn, the government is planning to privatise the Ministry of Defence's search and rescue activities. These embrace the RAF, Royal Navy and Coastguard helicopter rescue services at 12 bases across Britain — both helicopters and crew.
The Labour Party vigorously opposed the Tory attempt to privatise this service in the 1990s but has now grabbed the opportunity to place over £1 billion into the private sector by hiding the privatisation in another Private Finance Initiative scheme. An estimated £43 billion worth of PFI projects have been entered into by the government since 1997.