The exposure of G4S and Serco for stealing from the public purse on an industrial scale is symptomatic of privatised Britain. The findings of an initial inquiry that G4S had ‘overcharged’ tens of millions of pounds on electronic tagging contracts for offenders who had moved abroad, died, returned to prison so they were no longer tagged, or had never been tagged in the first place, are so blatant and so extensive that it cannot conceivably have been due to slip-ups or clerical errors. Of course it remains to be proven, but if confirmed as expected, this is fraud on the grand scale. Yet the way it has been handled by the government with kid gloves tells a very different tale.

Why were the two companies given the option of a voluntary forensic audit rather than the Serious Fraud Office being immediately involved at the outset? If a trade union had been found with its hand in the public pocket on a similar scale, would it have been granted the lenient option of a voluntary discovery of the facts? Second, why has it taken so long for the government to notice such rampant cheating at the public expense? Continue reading →