Neena Gill (S&D). – Madam President, I would like to call this House’s attention to the British government’s terrible handling of the Carillion crisis. Carillion, one of the UK government’s biggest private contractors, based in my constituency, has collapsed today threatening the jobs and pensions of more than 43 000 employees. Despite three warnings last year, the government still decided to award two billion of new contracts to this organisation. Over the last 16 years, the company continued to pay increases to its shareholders. Unfortunately SMEs and other suppliers and the UK taxpayer, were not so fortunate.

This reminds me not just of the Enron crisis but also of the last financial crisis, an example of where profits were privatised and the losses nationalised. Therefore, across Europe, privatisation of key public services has to be reconsidered. For now, we must prioritise securing the jobs and pensions of the Carillion workers affected in my constituency and elsewhere.