G4S boss Ashley Almanza told MPs yesterday that the company had trouble telling right from wrong.

Being grilled by public accounts committee MPs about overcharging for tagging offenders, Mr Almanza said: "I don't think we did correctly tell the difference between right and wrong. We got it wrong."

And fellow privateer Serco chairman Alistair Lyons admitted that it was "ethically wrong" that his company also milked the Ministry of Justice for millions.