\u2018There is a set of British oligarchs who, like their Russian counterparts, have become unimaginably rich as a result of looting the British state.\u2019\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n
Bob Wylie takes no prisoners in his account of the scandal over the collapse of outsourcing company Carillion: Bandit Capitalism: Carillion and the corruption of the British State<\/i>.\u00a0 He explains the link with the Russian oligarchs: in \u2018the trillion dollar scam of looting the Russian state the oligarchs became\u00a0 unimaginably rich, unaccountable and almost untouchable\u2026and that takes us to the Carillionaires \u2013 the Carillion oligarchs.\u2019<\/p>\n
It makes for a ripping read, and a gripping discussion in the Birlinn podcast<\/span><\/a> series. And a fitting point for the first in our Sceptical selection of choice podcasts. Here Bob Wylie<\/a>, former BBC Scotland News Correspondent, is interviewed by fellow Birlinn author Ray Perman<\/a>, former Financial Times Scottish correspondent, and author of Hubris: How HBOS wrecked the best bank in Britain, and The Rise and Fall of the City of Money: A financial history of Edinburgh<\/a><\/p>\n httpss:\/\/soundcloud.com\/birlinn-podcast\/bob-wylie-bandit-capitalism-carillion-and-the-corruption-of-the-british-state<\/p>\n Spot the connection? As in the financial crash of 2008, the perpetrators of the 2018 Carillion crash got off scot free while the tax payer picked up the bill.\u00a0<\/p>\n Wylie describes the Carillion \u2018ponzi scheme\u2019 with brutal clarity. \u00a0When the government outsourcer folded it had only \u00a329 million in the bank yet it owed a staggering \u00a37 billion. As well as \u00a31.3 billion owed to the banks, there was a \u00a32.6bn hole in the pension fund. To salvage the pensions owed to Carillion workers, British taxpayers had to pick up the tab. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Why didn\u2019t the auditors flag this up? Where are the regulators? How did such jaw dropping debts happen?<\/p>\n It\u2019s no surprise to either of the Birlinn authors. None of the 2008 bankers, or auditors were punished.\u00a0 Wylie does not hesitate to name names. The big four accounting firms, KPMG, Deloitte, Ernst and Young, Price Waterhouse, who took \u00a375m in fees in the ten years leading to collapse \u2013 \u2018none of them emerge with a clean bill of health.\u2019\u00a0<\/p>\n Have lessons been learned?The sad fact is that we never seem to learn \u2013 as you can hear in the sequel to this podcast when Wylie interviews Perman about the Rise and Fall of the City of Money.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Well worth a listen. Sharp, concise, witty and informative.\u00a0 And it’s not Covid.\u00a0<\/p>\n httpss:\/\/soundcloud.com\/birlinn-podcast\/ray-perman-the-rise-and-fall-of-the-city-of-money-a-financial-history-of-edinburgh<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Further listening: <\/i><\/p>\n Sceptical Scot podcast How banks captured the state\u00a0<\/a><\/i><\/p>\n