G4S!#*?£!%$#

G4S are the classic example that disproves all the economic textbooks that claim that state-run enterprises will always be more inefficient than private organisations in the same business.  From their hilariously over-wrought corporate rock melody to their cluelessness at the 2012 Olympics, they are emblematic of the failings of the private sector.  And yet Government, maybe because it is Government, continues to contract out services to them.  Today I saw a G4S security van transporting money between ATMs - it possessed a yellow stripe that capped its side with a series of boasts, one of which stated "Making sentences stick."  So true, that even when those sentences (or those who have served them) expire, they still claim from the Government parole credits and costs.  Chris Grayling, the Justice Secretary, was motivated enough to launch a corruption inquiry against them for refusing to allow the Government access to their accounts.  Under G4S, there is no redemption - once a criminal, always a criminal.  Perhaps it's because they feel the same way about themselves.