17.07.12
False Start
As chief executive of G4S Nick Buckles faces the Commons Home Affairs Select Committee today, a lot of questions are going to centre on just how a globally respected security firm could fail so spectacularly working on the most nationally publicised event of the decade.
Buckles’ fear that he will lose his job seems to be ever closer to materialising, as it has come to light that Home Office ministers noted issues with the G4S security contingent for the Olympics as long as a year ago.
Perhaps what is most worrying is the dissonance between what the Government promised and what has been delivered. Theresa May reported that G4S has assured her on multiple occasions that they would exceed, not merely meet targets.
The home secretary is stressing that G4S did not knowingly deceive the Government. It is unclear as to how much of this situation is due to G4S’s inability to estimate their own capabilities and the Home Office’s ability to ignore concerns it raised itself.
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