Brief comment on this. From a #stateaid perspective, this will not be aid if it is investment on market terms. The involvement of commercial partners supports the view that it is, as long as they are investing on the same or basically similar (“pari passu” in the jargon) terms.
But even if it isn’t State aid, it’s fair to wonder what audit or governance process it went through. After all, there are real risks that big spending becomes a substitute for more effective action.
Also risks of groupthink:
And it is critical to be able to prove to the outside world that public money has been spent effectively.
(All quotes from @michaelgove’s Ditchley speech)
It may well be that the Govt can explain clearly what the benefit of this spending is. It may well also have gone through processes that mitigate the dangers of groupthink and allow awkward dissenting challenges. But those are questions that are fair to ask.
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