How much would you pay someone to put up a Christmas tree? We took to the streets of Edinburgh this week to ask people this to demonstrate the disproportionate costs that come with Private Finance Initiatives. Under a complex and unfair PFI contract, Alistair Darling had to pay £900 for the UK Treasury’s Xmas tree. This legacy that was passed onto the next government, causing bureaucratic issues as Exchequer Partnerships stood firm on the high price of putting up Christmas decorations. On a biting cold afternoon in the Old Town, we found that most people wouldn’t pay anything for a service like that, with nobody willing to pay us the £900 required to put up our fallen tree. Our campaign this Christmas is to inform people about these types of funding models and the high costs they put on the taxpayer. We think it’s time for our governments and local authorities to seek better and more economical ways of funding our infrastructure, one that hopefully lets us put up Christmas trees for a little bit less.

Find out more about our campaign about rethinking private financing