Sol Invictus
10-12-2009, 10:58 AM
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/8301927.stm
Gordon Brown has set out proposals to reduce the rising budget deficit by raising £16bn from the sale of assets.
The plan is to sell a "portfolio of non-financial assets" held by Whitehall and local authorities over two years.
In a speech on the economy, the prime minister outlined sales which may raise £3bn, including the Tote, Dartford crossing and the student loan book.
But he has already been criticised by opposition MPs, who say he needs to do much more to cut public spending.
Downing Street said the sale marks the beginning of a radical assessment of what other non-core government business activities can best be done by, or in partnership with, the private sector.
Aides added that although these actions are important, a vital force for debt reduction will be the restoration of strong, sustainable growth within the economy.
In April, Chancellor Alistair Darling forecast that public borrowing this year would reach a record £175bn over the next two years.
The funds raised will help finance new capital investment and pay down debt, Mr Brown said.
'Depressed markets'
The initial offering will also include the Channel Tunnel rail link.
The government's 33% stake in Urenco, a European consortium which supplies equipment to enrich uranium for the nuclear industry, will be offered but the PM will insist there will be no threat to national security.
The government will also sell surplus real estate which is part of the £220bn owned by its departments and agencies.
We shouldn't confuse selling assets with dealing with the real underlying problem,
Philip Hammond, Shadow chief secretary to the Treasury
Ahead of the speech Lord Mandelson told BBC Radio 4's Today the sell-offs, which he said was an alternative to "savage" cuts planned by the Conservatives, could include local authority-owned airports.
Mr Brown also said premature cuts risked "snuffing out" the economic recovery when the job of fixing the global economy was only half done.
The PM, who said he was an optimist, also said economic experts did not back the Tory plans.
However, Mr Brown will concede that the "growth of overall spending" must be reduced after April 2011, by "cutting back on low priority programmes, increasing efficiency and productivity and unwinding the programmes that have been put in place to support demand over the last year".
The Conservatives said the sale was "probably necessary" but "no substitute for a long-term plan".
Leader David Cameron said: "Obviously we do need to do this, but we must make sure - as every family knows - if you sell something it can help you in the short term, but it doesn't actually help you live within your means in the long term.
"So, we've still got to get to grips with public spending, get to grips with the deficit - and we must make sure we get good value for money.
"Let's not forget, this is the prime minister who sold our gold reserves and if he'd sold them later he could have got four times the quantity. So, let's not have any more incompetence from him."
Liberal Democrat Treasury spokesman Vince Cable said the policy was fundamentally flawed.
He said: "What worries me about the government proposal is that they're proposing to sell off in very depressed markets, under very depressed markets for land and for shares."
Margaret Eaton, chairman of the Local Government Association, said she was amazed the announcement had been made without consulting her organisation.
Gordon Brown has set out proposals to reduce the rising budget deficit by raising £16bn from the sale of assets.
The plan is to sell a "portfolio of non-financial assets" held by Whitehall and local authorities over two years.
In a speech on the economy, the prime minister outlined sales which may raise £3bn, including the Tote, Dartford crossing and the student loan book.
But he has already been criticised by opposition MPs, who say he needs to do much more to cut public spending.
Downing Street said the sale marks the beginning of a radical assessment of what other non-core government business activities can best be done by, or in partnership with, the private sector.
Aides added that although these actions are important, a vital force for debt reduction will be the restoration of strong, sustainable growth within the economy.
In April, Chancellor Alistair Darling forecast that public borrowing this year would reach a record £175bn over the next two years.
The funds raised will help finance new capital investment and pay down debt, Mr Brown said.
'Depressed markets'
The initial offering will also include the Channel Tunnel rail link.
The government's 33% stake in Urenco, a European consortium which supplies equipment to enrich uranium for the nuclear industry, will be offered but the PM will insist there will be no threat to national security.
The government will also sell surplus real estate which is part of the £220bn owned by its departments and agencies.
We shouldn't confuse selling assets with dealing with the real underlying problem,
Philip Hammond, Shadow chief secretary to the Treasury
Ahead of the speech Lord Mandelson told BBC Radio 4's Today the sell-offs, which he said was an alternative to "savage" cuts planned by the Conservatives, could include local authority-owned airports.
Mr Brown also said premature cuts risked "snuffing out" the economic recovery when the job of fixing the global economy was only half done.
The PM, who said he was an optimist, also said economic experts did not back the Tory plans.
However, Mr Brown will concede that the "growth of overall spending" must be reduced after April 2011, by "cutting back on low priority programmes, increasing efficiency and productivity and unwinding the programmes that have been put in place to support demand over the last year".
The Conservatives said the sale was "probably necessary" but "no substitute for a long-term plan".
Leader David Cameron said: "Obviously we do need to do this, but we must make sure - as every family knows - if you sell something it can help you in the short term, but it doesn't actually help you live within your means in the long term.
"So, we've still got to get to grips with public spending, get to grips with the deficit - and we must make sure we get good value for money.
"Let's not forget, this is the prime minister who sold our gold reserves and if he'd sold them later he could have got four times the quantity. So, let's not have any more incompetence from him."
Liberal Democrat Treasury spokesman Vince Cable said the policy was fundamentally flawed.
He said: "What worries me about the government proposal is that they're proposing to sell off in very depressed markets, under very depressed markets for land and for shares."
Margaret Eaton, chairman of the Local Government Association, said she was amazed the announcement had been made without consulting her organisation.