Opening and Closing Costs
After the trumpet fanfare of the Parliament’s opening many feart-hearts, naysayers, presbyterian scrooges and fickle fiscal hand-wringers have turned like toads and are now full-square behind the project.
It’s amazing what a wee bit of Royal patronage and glass of sherry will do. Wasn’t it a fine thing to watch Union Jack McConnell squirming in his jockeys as Edwin Morgan’s ode to a Scottish republic was read out.
But while we’re on the question of dodgy PR and dubious prospects, you’ve got to love the spin being put out this morning by the UK Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA). Now it seems the rotten dysfunctional site will be closed by 2047, instead of the next century as previously thought! Break out the bunting! And the cost is to be a mere £1 billion. Fantastic, what a saving!
So if it took £400 million to open a parliament it’s going to take £1 billion to close this building…but not a tweat from the ususal suspects bleating about what a waste of money. In fact as a UKAEA spokesman said: "This is good news for the taxpayer, for the environment and for local contractors."
What could be better?