Politics
PMQs: “As the ruins of Carrillion lie around her, will the PM work to end the racket between government & private companies?”
Today Prime Minister's Questions was dominated by the collapse of Carillion, with the leader Jeremy Corbyn of The Labour Party attacking the 'too cosy relationship' between successive Tory governments and private companies: "This isn't one isolated case of Government negligence and Corporate failure. It's a broken system. "Under this Tory government Virgin & Stagecoach can spectacularly mismanage the East Coast Mainline and be let off a £2 billion payment. Capita & ATOS can continue to wreck the lives of millions of...
May isn’t only one struggling at Number 10…Injured fox spotted limping outside Downing Street
A poor fox limped past 10 Downing Street looking for help - in the middle of the day. The injured critter, which is normally nocturnal, hobbled past the PM's home just before Amber Rudd emerged on Tuesday lunchtime. London, January 16 2018. A fox limps past the Prime Minister's office at 10 Downing Street as cabinet ministers meet inside. Photographer Paul Davey, who spotted the sad-looking creature, said: "He hobbled past once, and then came back the other way. "He...
Jon Trickett: Why was it apparent to everyone but the government that Carillion was in trouble?
The Conservatives missed multiple warnings that Carrillion was in trouble and continued to award them publicly-funded contracts despite there being clear signs that things had gone awry, Jon Trickett said today in parliament. In an emergency statement on the collapse of Carillion the Labour MP quested why the government had missed three separate profit warnings and several resignations from CEOs. If they did indeed not know about the perilous situation, then "why did the government leave the position of Crown...
The winners of the Carillion scandal – making £300m from the Government contractor’s collapse
Unbelievably, a decade after the global banking collapse the British taxpayer has been asked to bail out one of Britain’s largest contractors for public projects as it owes the banks - including those we bailed out - hundreds of millions. Carillion had asked the Government to bail it out with uncertainty hanging over thousands of jobs and public projects contracted out to the failing giant all over Britain from hospitals to HS2. Yet again while the risks are borne by...
Momentum hails victory for “21st Century socialism” as group secures landslide victory in elections
Momentum has secured a landslide victory in elections to the National Executive Committee, with the group's founder hailing the result as a victory for "21st century socialism". Jon Lansman, the founder of Momentum, was among three new members elected in the vote, with Yasmine Dar and Rachel Garnham joining Lansman. Comedian Eddie Izzard lost out. As Labour's supreme decision-making committee, the NEC plays a key role in the overall direction of the party as well as helping set the rules for...
Carillion collapse “could not have come at a worse time for the NHS” as essential services threatened
The imminent collapse of Carillion could not have come at a worse time for the NHS, according to Nursing Notes, with essential services threatened by the groups demise. Following several days of negotiations, the board of the NHS’s largest external contractor, Carillion, has said that it had “no choice but to take steps to enter into compulsory liquidation with immediate effect’’. Carillion employs around 20,000 people in the UK with around 8,000 of these working as subcontractors for the NHS....
Free school meal plan is a “cut disguised as a kindness”
The Government's free school meals plan threatens to leave children hungry and cut jobs, according to the union that represents school catering and lunchtime supervision staff. GMB has responded to the Department for Education’s consultation on free school meal entitlement under Universal Credit, saying the plans are a “cut disguised as a kindness.” The response casts doubt on the Government’s claim that more pupils will be entitled to free school meals than under the current system. The union’s analysis reveals that: Under...
Calls on PM to act immediately to take Carillion contracts into public ownership
Union calls for urgent review of private sector contract awards as company collapse plunges workers and services into crisis GMB, Britain’s general union has called on Prime Minister Theresa May to act immediately to take Carillion contracts into public ownership after the company went into liquidation today. The union called for a full and transparent inquiry into the provision of public services by private sector contractors once jobs and services were secured. Tim Roache, GMB General Secretary said: “The Prime Minister...
Petition calls for investigation into allegations that MPs raped and assaulted children throughout 80s and 90s
A petition has been launched to urge the government to investigate allegations that MPs and peers raped and assaulted children throughout the 1980s and 1990s. Conservative, Labour and Lib Dem MPs and peers have been named in the appeal for investigation, including Sir Peter Bottomley MP, Sir Edward Leigh MP and the Rt Hon Keith Vaz MP. According to campaign group Survivors of Child Sexual Abuse there are several political figures who are widely named by child abuse survivors and contemporary witnesses...