I don't blame Lord Drayson for following his dreams, or Square Wheels Filbey for taking a lucrative job post RAF career; we can all knock them but I bet most of us would do similar given the chance. As for the thread - I'm no economist but even I can clearly see that the PFI is a terrible idea and a dreadful waste of taxpayers' money. But buying outright is probably not an option either. So perhaps the question should be 'is there a realistic alternative?'
Given the opportunity I would investigate the benefits, if any, of changing the contract, that has not yet been signed, to make the agreement a lease-to-buy. Without looking into it I don't know if it's possible, but leasing to buy might appease those of us that don't like to just rent the aircraft, might persuade the treasury to find that extra half a percent and might still leave Airtanker with an agreeable profit margin. Maybe we could all be happy after all?
