Conservatives float plans for massive privatisation

[Stormproof]

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A mass sale of public assets by an incoming Conservative government could include large parts of the BBC and Royal Mail, senior party figures have said.


By Melissa Kite, Deputy Political Editor
Published: 9:00PM BST 05 Sep 2009

Selling off a range of public bodies would be a "get out of jail card" as the Tories desperately try to balance the books, according to tax lawyer Charlie Elphicke, who has advised the party's economic team.

John Redwood, chair of the Conservatives' economic competitiveness commission, has published proposals on his blog for the sale of Britain's motorway network while Ed Vaizey, the shadow arts minister, last week suggested selling off Radio 1.

The proposals reflect a growing belief behind the scenes that Mr Cameron will have to consider some form of privatisation programme of the type instigated by Margaret Thatcher if he wins power.

Beginning soon after she took office in 1979 with the first stage of a sell-off of BP, Lady Thatcher's privatisation programme accelerated in the early 1980s with the successive sales of utility companies.

Mr Elphicke, the Tory candidate for Dover, said: "The budget deficit this year and next year is expected to be £180 billion.

"If you reduce spending by £60 billion and put taxes up by £40 billion you still have a huge hole, a massive borrowing overhang.

"How do you reduce the level of borrowing and repair the public finances? Asset sales are the one thing that is a get out of jail free card."

Mr Elphicke said the Tories should consider selling BBC Worldwide, the commercial arm of the BBC, which could bring in an estimated £8 billion to the Exchequer.

He said: "It's a neat little compromise. It preserves the integrity of public service broadcasting and leaves the rest of the BBC intact. The public have poured money into this over the years and we could argue that we now need the money back."

Mr Elphicke said Royal Mail and Channel 4 could also be sold, and banks returned to the private sector.

"Even Labour are looking at selling off things like the Dartford Crossing and British Waterways," he said.

"And David Cameron has said he wants a discussion about what the state should and should not do.

"We need to say 'What does the government own that it does not need to own?' There is a conversation to be had with the nation where we say 'Look, we have to make hard decisions.'"

Both Mr Elphicke and Mr Redwood argue that high street banks taken into public ownership during the credit crisis should be part of an early privatisation package.

"If you return the banks to the private sector you get capital receipts of £150 billion. That is the golden hope," Mr Elphicke said.

Mr Vaizey was slapped down by party chiefs last month for proposing that the BBC should be forced to sell Radio 1. Although he is the shadow minister responsible for broadcasting, a Tory spokesman said the sale of Radio 1 was not party policy.

Mr Vaizey, a long time member of Mr Cameron's inner circle, later said he was only speaking "metaphorically" and was simply giving an illustration of one way in which the dominance of the BBC could be broken up.

However, insiders say the idea of asset sales is being discussed by the Treasury team.

One senior Conservative MP said: "We are absolutely fixated with balancing the books now, it is the only thing that matters.

"And we are stuck with the fact that we have said we are not going to change the NHS budget and that is a fifth of the whole government budget. So we are stuck with that and we have to look elsewhere.

"There is no way we are going to make the books balance just with cuts. Radio 1 and Radio 2 are ripe for a sell-off, perhaps even BBC1.

"There is a perfectly sensible economic argument for selling off Royal Mail but it is politically toxic. We need to look at these things."

Mr Elphicke said asset sales could be delayed until a few years into a Conservative government to ward off public alarm. "It doesn't need to be done immediately. It can be in year three," he said.

[Lounge Lizard]

if the Conservatives are so serious about privatisation why don't they start with the Ministry of Defence, more lucrative than any other department and if all servicemen were self-employed as mercenaries they could easily find someone, Mark Thatcher perhaps, with the appropriate experience to run it for them.

[prowler]

if the Conservatives are so serious about privatisation why don't they start with the Ministry of Defence, more lucrative than any other department and if all servicemen were self-employed as mercenaries they could easily find someone, Mark Thatcher perhaps, with the appropriate experience to run it for them.

What does the government own it doesn't need to? Sorry, I thought it was the taxpayers who owned them?
Great new ideas from the Tories then.

[pickaname]

if the Conservatives are so serious about privatisation why don't they start with the Ministry of Defence, more lucrative than any other department and if all servicemen were self-employed as mercenaries they could easily find someone, Mark Thatcher perhaps, with the appropriate experience to run it for them.

Not such an implausable idea.

The tories should privatise the government first. Sell of the house of Lords and then the House of Commons to the highest bidder. Surely a stake in the political system of a country has to be worth an exceptional amount of cash? The politicians would then be regulated by OFPOT.

It wasnt so long ago that BT and RM were seen as untouchable....why not the Government? Seriously...why should Politicians be immune?

It has to be worth a look and could balance the books far quicker than the sale of alleged failing assets.

[Big Daz]

Its a interesting question though, what should the state/taxpayer own and why?

Could there be stuff we should own but dont and stuff we do own but dont need to?

[pickaname]

Its a interesting question though, what should the state/taxpayer own and why?

Could there be stuff we should own but dont and stuff we do own but dont need to?

All essential services should be in public hands. Non essential assets should be sold.

For example,

Nationalise: Gas, Electric, Rail, Post etc.

Privatise: The BBC, Certain Government departments, The Armed Forces, The Royal Family.

If you can CHOOSE whether you use them flog it.
If you dont have a choice whether you use it then Nationalise it.

[baldrick]

The tories should privatise the government first. Sell of the house of Lords and then the House of Commons to the highest bidder.

I thought politicians already sold themselves to the highest bidder. :mfo

[borders]

Rich nations refuse to help the poorest
Sunday 06 September 2009 Finance ministers of the world's richest nations have failed yet again to help the poorest countries deal with the devastating effects of a financial crisis caused by wealthy bankers.

The G20 meeting in London at the weekend brought together the rich nations' financial executives as latest UN figures revealed that 100 million more people around the world will be driven into extreme poverty of less than $1.25 a day this year.

But the only agreement that ministers could come to was a half-hearted promise to "claw back" the excessive bonuses that wealthy bankers have been awarding themselves - and then only if their money-spinning deals unravelled within three years.

There was no decision to introduce a tax on international financial transactions that charities and aid organisations had demanded and which, even at a minuscule rate of 0.005 per cent, would raise more than £18 billion to help the world's poor.

And there was no firm commitment to crack down on tax havens - most of them under the jurisdiction of the British crown on islands such as Jersey and Bermuda - which could also recover for government aid budgets as much as £98bn from tax-dodging corporations.

Oxfam senior policy advisor Mark Lawson explained that "this money is desperately needed to prevent the world's financial crisis derailing efforts to reduce poverty."

He added: "If the G20 was serious, they would have agreed a global tax on currency transactions that could raise billions of dollars for millions of people pushed into poverty because of bankers' greed.

"This would help clean up the mess that their actions have caused."

Mr Lawson stressed that "the rich countries that have spent £11 trillion bailing out banks should not be allowed to plead tight budgets as an excuse for failing to help poor people. It is time bankers gave a bonus to the poor instead."

ActionAid head of economic and social development Anna Thomas added that "the poorest countries need more money now to rescue their economies."

She asserted: "These countries lose as a result of tax-dodging companies failing to contribute their fair share, but there was no indication that the G20 considered dealing with that."

What the ministers did consider was a cap on bankers' bonuses, but Chancellor Alistair Darling casually dismissed the proposal as "unenforceable."

Even the revelation that the state-owned Royal Bank of Scotland had just awarded a massive £2.3 million bonus to a single executive - which includes an incredible £1m just for signing his contract - didn't seem to embarrass the host of the G20 in front of his guests.

Despite his boss Prime Minister Gordon Brown earlier insisting that excessive bonuses were "offensive to the general public," Mr Darling responded to the news from RBS with a shrug.

"I'm afraid that these bonuses are part and parcel of the banking industry," he said.

[borders]

there you go , what more needs to be said !!------- we dont really give a toss if we have stuffed up , will we continue to trouser as much as possible . and even if we have messed up a bit ,it does not really matter because the stupid working class and their kids can pay for it in the mean time. lets face it we have the power of the state and the media behind us and there is not a lot they can do about it and it can only get better because guess what the stupid f--kwits are going to vote the Tories in next

[borders]

"I'm afraid that these bonuses are part and parcel of the banking industry," he said........... im afraid..... you pompous tosspot , a Labour MP for christ's sake, now you working class how dare you think about going on strike to protect your 280 quid a week and your full time job, we will use every means possible to force you in to accepting our ways, we will bust your union and grind you into the ground you bunch of no-marks....

[TrueBlueTerrier]

[borders]

yeah reminds me of the saying -- if you want to steal money you dont rob a bank , you open one...

[BELIAL]

I predict a lot of big riots