The implosion of the outsourcing giant Carillion is a “watershed” moment for the “rip-off” privatisation
of British public services.
Carillion was one of the British government’s “go-to” outsourcing and building companies, which managed hundreds of public sector projects as well as vital public services.
It had been entrusted with the building and operation of a number of high profile hospitals, including the
Midland Metropolitan hospital in Birmingham and another in Liverpool.
Both were substantially delayed and over budget and were seen as central to the company’s failure.
The company’s collapse has cost thousands of jobs, which will be exacerbated by the financial stress put on more than 30,000 small firms owed money by Carillion.
Opposition leader, Jeremy Corbyn, called Carillion’s collapse a “watershed moment”, adding that it was “time to put an end to the rip-off privatisation policies that have done serious damage to our public services and fleeced the public of billions of pounds”.
Carillion’s chairman, Philip Green, was an adviser to the prime minister David Cameron on corporate responsibility until December 2016.
The company’s former chief executive Richard Howson is still currently entitled to a £660,000 salary, even though he quit the company last year over the company’s tanking performance.
