From reader, bigjon999

[Ed: bigjon999’s comment reacting to this Guardian report on Carrilion seemed too interesting to leave as just a comment which many might have missed]

Not sure if this is right place to note this – but I don’t want to go too far back in time…
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2020/jan/17/two-hospitals-held-up-by-carillion-collapse
Carillion were also involved in the Aberdeen Western Peripheral Road (or the Bypass to give it a shorter name!).
The Scottish government had insisted on clauses in the contracts stating that if a contractor went bust the other contractors had to step in to continue the work. So what was the result of the Carillion collapse: “The final section opened in February 2019 – later than planned partly due to weather issues, the January 2018 collapse of contractor Carillion, and concrete problems at the River Don crossing” (Wikipedia). So a years delay, compared to the hospital; delays of 5 years for the Royal Liverpool (and £250m over budget) and 4 years for the Midland Metropolitan (more than £300m over budget).
Imagine the reaction from the Tories and Labour and Lim Dems if the Aberdeen Bypass had been delayed by as much and over-run as much…