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Government to sell off £16 billion of assets
Posted: 11 Oct 2009, 21:15
by Quintus
Roll up, roll up - everything must go - depression prices
I'm suspect the Tories will add a lot of other things (e.g. Royal Mail and some motorways).
Government to sell off £16 billion of assets
The Government is to sell off £16 billion of assets as part of moves to restore stability to the public finances, Gordon Brown will say on Monday.
The Prime Minister will give details of an initial round of sales that could raise £3 billion - including:
- The Tote
- Dartford crossing
- The channel tunnel rail link
- The Student Loan book
- Surplus real estate as market conditions improve
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/econ ... ssets.html
Posted: 11 Oct 2009, 21:43
by clv101
I hope the new owners leave the Dartford crossing and channel tunnel rail link where they are, they are rather handy there.
Posted: 11 Oct 2009, 22:29
by Mean Mr Mustard
Selling off the Tote is a bit of a gamble.
Posted: 11 Oct 2009, 22:55
by oilslick
They really are burning their bridges.
Get used to it, they'll tax you on everything and they'll sell everything to someone to charge you to use what you paid for in the first place.
Quality of life in the UK is only going one way as far as I can tell.
Posted: 11 Oct 2009, 22:57
by RenewableCandy
Surplus real estate eh? I've always fancied a Cold War Bunker, you never know when it might come in handy...
Posted: 11 Oct 2009, 23:10
by Quintus
oilslick wrote:They really are burning their bridges.
Get used to it, they'll tax you on everything and they'll sell everything to someone to charge you to use what you paid for in the first place.
Quality of life in the UK is only going one way as far as I can tell.
Oilslick, your comment reminds me of this article (Aug 09).
NM Rothschild pitches motorway privatisation plan
A radical plan to raise £100 billion by privatising the motorway network has been presented to the three main political parties by NM Rothschild, the influential investment bank.
Rothschild, an architect of several privatisations, made its pitch in the weeks running up to the summer recess on July 21, Whitehall sources said. Bankers told leading politicians that the sale of the roads overseen by the Highways Agency — all motorways and most big trunk roads — could help revive battered public finances. Toll-road companies and infrastructure funds would compete to operate and maintain stretches of the network . . . .
. . . . The Rothschild plan has already won the support of Vince Cable, the Liberal Democrats’ deputy leader and Treasury spokesman.
“This is an attractive, positive idea which could release considerable resources to the public finances and may have real environmental merits,” Cable said. “The scale of it is vast — it makes rail privatisation look like small beer.”
http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/b ... 814923.ece
Posted: 11 Oct 2009, 23:43
by RenewableCandy
A classic case of bankers picking up indestructible assets (land etc) at knock-down prices in a recession. Ties in nicely with stuff I've read about the history of Rotschild, and the recent rant about Goldman Sachs for that matter.
Posted: 12 Oct 2009, 00:07
by JohnB
Bankers told leading politicians that the sale of the roads overseen by the Highways Agency — all motorways and most big trunk roads — could help revive battered public finances. Toll-road companies and infrastructure funds would compete to operate and maintain stretches of the network
It wasn't very popular in the past!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rebecca_Riots
Posted: 12 Oct 2009, 00:12
by clv101
Maybe we could sell everything.
Clear all overseas liabilities.
Re-nationalise everything.
Profit?
Posted: 12 Oct 2009, 07:11
by 2 As and a B
Brown isn't the best market timer is he?
Who on earth has go the cash to buy these assets?
Actually, I find this news the clearest indication we are well and truly up the creek. It is the like the last desperate carboot sale to raise the next repayment before the bailiffs arrive.
Posted: 12 Oct 2009, 07:44
by biffvernon
foodinistar wrote:It is the like the last desperate carboot sale to raise the next repayment before the bailiffs arrive.
Yes. The Tories sold off the family silver last time they were in power.
Posted: 12 Oct 2009, 16:21
by syberberg
biffvernon wrote:foodinistar wrote:It is the like the last desperate carboot sale to raise the next repayment before the bailiffs arrive.
Yes. The Tories sold off the family silver last time they were in power.
They didn't really have a choice though, what with having to ask for an IMF loan. Would've been nice if they'd actually told the truth about exactly
why they had to rather than the BS of "modernising Britain", but that's politicians for you.
Posted: 12 Oct 2009, 16:38
by Quintus
Shouldn't assets be sold off when they're on a high?
We sold the peak output of North Sea oil when the price was at an all time low - and we pre-announced the sale of 400 tons of gold bullion in a series of high profile public auctions at just $275 an ounce. Now we're selling long held assets, during a global slump, when the world knows the UK is desperate for money.
A fool and their money . . .
Posted: 12 Oct 2009, 18:15
by JohnB
Would you really trust a bunch of [insert your favourite expletive here] who can't even sort out their own expenses, to get a good deal when selling the family silver
Posted: 12 Oct 2009, 19:38
by Ludwig
syberberg wrote:biffvernon wrote:foodinistar wrote:It is the like the last desperate carboot sale to raise the next repayment before the bailiffs arrive.
Yes. The Tories sold off the family silver last time they were in power.
They didn't really have a choice though, what with having to ask for an IMF loan. Would've been nice if they'd actually told the truth about exactly
why they had to rather than the BS of "modernising Britain", but that's politicians for you.
I didn't know about this. I assumed privatisation was just a fundamental part of Tory ideology. Any references? I'd be interested to learn more.