On keeping one's promises

[emperor]

Why is it OK to consider changing the law to allow the government to renege on promises it made to civil servants, when we're not considering doing similar to allow us to renege on, say, PFI deals?

Comments

[hoiho.livejournal.com]

Because if they renege on a commercial contract no one will again bid for government work at a reasonable price (and possible have an effect on the government's credit rating), but they'll still get civil servants even if they treat them badly.

[aureo1e.livejournal.com]

This was the argument for bailing out Railtrack IIRC, though I don't recall what they actually decided to do in the end and how that played out.

[hoiho.livejournal.com]

They pushed it into administration (by means of not bailing it out), then took it over, and the shareholders lost out. As my father-in-law (a Railtrack shareholder) never tires of complaining.

[pjc50.livejournal.com]

Lawsuits about this are still ongoing, aren't they?