Simply red: the true state of the public finances

In recent years, critics have accused the Chancellor of using the PFI as a method of hiding, or simply deferring, a proportion of the capital costs associated with this Government’s public sector investment. The Chancellor’s response to this criticism has been to declare simply that: “We follow exactly the same rules as were followed by the previous Government, except for one thing – we tightened up the accounting standards.”

Brooks Newmark MP, Stephen Hammond MP - Wednesday, 27th December, 2006