LONDON – U.K. leaders are discussing the fallout from the collapse of construction and outsourcing firm Carillion amid criticism of the government’s role in its downfall.
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The government’s emergency planning committee, Cobra, met Monday night to assess the damage and ensure the delivery of public services provided by the company.
Carillion had 450 government contracts that ranged from rail projects to providing school lunches and maintaining 50,000 homes on military bases. Company executives are under investigation for protecting their bonuses even as the failure of the company put some 43,000 jobs at risk worldwide.
Opposition parties have criticized the government for continuing to award contracts to Carillion as it issued three profit warnings and struggled to finance 900 million pounds ($1.24 billion) of debt and a 587 million pound pension deficit.
