Jeremy Corbyn: Carillion collapse is 'watershed moment' for privatisation agenda
3 min read
The collapse of Carillion should signal the end of the privatisation agenda, Jeremy Corbyn has declared.
The Labour leader said the firm's liquidation is "a watershed moment" which should usher in a new way of delivering public services.
Carillion - which was awarded around 450 government contracts worth billions of pounds - went bust this morning after failing to secure emergency cash from its lenders.
Among the public projects the company was involved in was the HS2 rail line, the maintenance of 50,000 Ministry of Defence homes, the provision of school dinners and the cleaning of hospitals.,
In a video message, Mr Corbyn linked Carillion's liquidation with the NHS winter crisis as proof that privatisation had not worked.
He said: "In the wake of the collapse of the contractor Carillion, it is 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.
"This is a watershed moment. Across the public sector, the outsource-first dogma has wreaked havoc. Often it is the same companies that have gone from service to service, creaming off profits and failing to deliver the quality of service our people deserve.
"The evidence is clear and it is everywhere. Look at the up £2 billion public bailout of Richard Branson's Virgin and Stagecoach for their own failure to run East Coast rail properly - or the scandal of the NHS being sued by private companies like Virgin after losing a contract bid.
"Staff and patients in our NHS are facing shocking conditions this winter. Tory underfunding has caused the crisis, but privatisation, outsourced contracts and profiteering has made it worse.
"Our public services - health, rail, prisons, even our Armed Forces' housing - are struggling after years of austerity and private contractors siphoning off profits from the public purse.
"It's time we took back control. We not only need to guarantee the public sector takes over the work Carillion was contracted to do – but go much further and end contracts where costs spiral, profits soar and services are hollowed out.
"Labour will end the PFI rip off, put an end the private-profit-is-best dogma and run our public services for the benefit of the many, not the profits of the few."
Meanwhile, Cabinet Office minister David Lidington said the official receiver appointed to deal with the liquidation of the company had the power to impose "severe penalties" if misconduct is identified.
In 2016, its board of directors introduced new rules making it harder to claw back bonuses from its executives if the company ran into financial trouble.
In an emergency Commons debate, Mr Lidington said: "It would be wrong of me to pre-empt the inquiry the official receiver will carry out into the conduct of both the present and previous board of directors, but I can say that the official receiver does have the power to impose severe penalties if he finds that misconduct has taken place."
PoliticsHome Newsletters
PoliticsHome provides the most comprehensive coverage of UK politics anywhere on the web, offering high quality original reporting and analysis: Subscribe
