George Osborne's State Asset Sell-Off: 'Greater Privatisation In 12 Months Than Last 20 Years'

George Osborne's Privatisation Project Is Set To Make £32bn This Year
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Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne poses for the media with the traditional red dispatch box outside his official residence at 11 Downing Street in London, Wednesday, March 18, 2015. The Chancellor is to deliver his annual budget speech to the House of Commons later Wednesday. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
Kirsty Wigglesworth/AP

George Osborne is set to raise more money in a single year through the sale of public assets than was made by the combined profits of every privatisation project over the last two decades, shocking new research has shown.

The sell-off of stakes in Royal Mail, Royal Bank of Scotland and other organisations is predicted to generate around £31.8 billion for the Chancellor in 2015/16, just over the £31.7 billion figure raised by all privatisations since 1993.

The sum is also expected to be the largest amount of money raised through the disposal of shares in publicly-owned companies in any 12-month period in modern history.

Unite general secretary Len McCluskey described the findings of the Press Association's report as "the sale of the century", and accused Osborne of "rewarding the Tory party's friends in the city in a spectacularly lavish style".

"These are public assets belonging to the taxpayer, held in trust for the future for the benefit of the many, not for the financial gain of a rich city elite," the Union boss added.

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Len McCluskey attacked the Chancellor over his proposed plans

"George Osborne is being utterly irresponsible and inconsistent. On the one hand he announces £12 billion of cuts, the pain of which will be felt by the most vulnerable, on the other he rushes through the RBS sale and in the process loses out on a £14 billion return to taxpayers.

"This is money that could have been spent on infrastructure investment, education and health for the benefit of all."

The findings come as two Labour leadership contenders pledged to commit themselves to pursuing a policy of renationalisation of UK rail services.

Andy Burnham announced late on Tuesday he would permit the public sector to bid for rail franchises, while Jeremy Corbyn claimed he was a long-standing supporter of full rail and energy sectors' renationalisation.

Osborne's £30b bonanza is broken down as follows:

Osborne's £30b privatisation bonanza
RBS shares blown(01 of05)
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The Chancellor announced on Monday he had sold a 5.4% stake in the bailed-out bank RBS, of which the public now owns 73%. Osborne was accused of “casually” losing taxpayers £1b after the shares sold at two-thirds the price the Government had originally paid for them. He was criticised for enacting the move during Parliamentary recess, while MPs were not in the Commons and able to scrutinise the sale. Labour Chancellor Alistair Darling pumped £45.5b of public money into RBS in 2008/09 at the height of the banking crisis – a move supported by then Shadow Chancellor George Osborne.
Sale: £2.1b
(credit:Yui Mok/PA Wire)
... And Lloyds(02 of05)
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Also on Monday, the government sold off another slab of its stake in Lloyds Bank, marking the near completion of its full privatisation. £14b has been raised since the process started in December 2014. But the bank was still been bailed out with £20b of taxpayers money back in 2008.
Sale: £14b
(credit:Matt Dunham/AP)
Royal Mail privatised(03 of05)
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2013's sell-off off the UK's national parcel and letter delivery service was criticised by MPs for losing taxpayers £1b because the Government underestimated demand for shares. The Business Select Committee chastised ministers for their handling of proceedings, saying taxpayers were missing out on "significant value." In a hard-hitting report, the committee expressed concern that the Government had failed to get an adequate return on privatised Royal Mail assets, such as multi-million pound sites in London.
Sale: £1.5b
(credit:Andrew Milligan/PA Wire)
Student loads sidelined(04 of05)
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The Government sold off millions of pound of student loans to a private debt collection agency back in 2013. After much resistance from students and unions, Osborne watered down his measures to siphon students' debt into private hands, but still ploughed through with raking in a cool £2.3b.
Sale: £2.3b
(credit:PA)
Northern Rock palmed off(05 of05)
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Assets to be offloaded, after the sell-off of previously crisis-riddled banks Northern Rock and Bradford & Bingley in 2011, on top of other bank and investment sales, would fetch around £13b, bringing the total amount of state assets sold off to well over £30b.
Sale: £13b
(credit:Owen Humphreys/PA Archive)