End ‘bandit capitalism’ call

Unite assistant general secretary Gail Cartmail called for justice following construction giant Carillion’s collapse in a speech at the Labour Party conference today (September 25).

She outlined the disaster of  “the biggest corporate collapse in UK history” which left 3,000 workers without jobs and thousands more working in its supply chains “thrown on the scrap heap”.

Beyond job losses, Carillion’s collapse in January has left dozens of construction sites deserted.

“Here in Liverpool not only did building work stop in January,” Cartmail said, “but a desperately needed new Royal Liverpool hospital has been mothballed and it is 18 months overdue this Sunday and there’s still no plan to get it built.”

She highlighted the recent scandal of unexplained cracks in beams at the Royal Liverpool hospital site, as well as cladding found on the building that didn’t pass fire safety tests.

“Before Carillion went bust, the hospital trust asked if the cladding was safe and they said yes,” she said. “But of course, they lied.

“Carillion was built on lies,” Cartmail went on to say as she pointed out that projects such as the Royal Liverpool Hospital which were losing millions were on paper shown to be in profit.

“When Carillion went bust they had liabilities of £7bn and had just £29m left in the bank,” she added.

Another key lie in the Carillion saga is that the taxpayer wouldn’t foot the bill for its collapse.

But now it has been revealed that the auditors PwC will earn ÂŁ50m to disband Carillion, much of which taxpayers will have to pay for.

“Unite has now discovered that because Carillion went into compulsory liquidation and all of its workers had to be made redundant – and lose their continuity of employment – even if their jobs were transferred, we the taxpayers have picked up that bill of another £65m,” Cartmail explained.

This was gleaned from a recent Unite Freedom of Information request. Unite research has also found that taxpayers will have to pick up the bill of several of Carillion’s key strategic projects left unfinished including the Royal Liverpool Hospital and the Midlands Metropolitan Hospitals – a bill that is expected to exceed £100m.

Cartmail called on conference to channel their anger at this injustice that has ruined lives and cost us taxpayers so much.

“Despite the millions we have paid; despite the lies; despite the misery of workers losing their jobs – no one has been charged.

“If no one broke any laws, then we need new laws – someone must be guilty here,” she said to thundering applause in a packed conference hall.

Cartmail called for justice and accountability – which Unite has held must include a full public inquiry and criminal investigations.

“We know that only a Labour government will outlaw bandit capitalism once and for all,” she concluded. “Let’s get Jeremy into No. 10 and pledge to use our public money for public good.”

Unite will be hosting an “Ending Bandit Capital” fringe event this evening (September 25) at 5.30pm in the Liverpool Conference Centre. Find out all details including list of speakers here.