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Eurostar has gone, but what’s left for the UK Government to sell? Eurostar has gone, but what’s left for the UK Government to sell?
(about 4 hours later)
Eurostar is about to join a long list of assets sold off by the government that includes Rolls Royce, British Rail, and British Airways in the transport sector alone.Eurostar is about to join a long list of assets sold off by the government that includes Rolls Royce, British Rail, and British Airways in the transport sector alone.
The UK government has sold its 40 per cent stake in Eurostar for £757.1 million – far exceeding estimates of £300 million touted when the sale was announced in October.The UK government has sold its 40 per cent stake in Eurostar for £757.1 million – far exceeding estimates of £300 million touted when the sale was announced in October.
Privatisation started in earnest under Margaret Thatcher, whose Conservative government sold some 50 state-owned assets. After Thatcher’s third election victory in 1987, British Petroleum, British Airways, water and electricity were sold off.Privatisation started in earnest under Margaret Thatcher, whose Conservative government sold some 50 state-owned assets. After Thatcher’s third election victory in 1987, British Petroleum, British Airways, water and electricity were sold off.
Huge public opposition prevented the sale of some of Britain’s best-loved institutions like Royal Mail and the NHS at the time.Huge public opposition prevented the sale of some of Britain’s best-loved institutions like Royal Mail and the NHS at the time.
 
But Royal Mail is already gone. Since the Tories came to power in 2010 we've seen probation services, roads and some of the education sector and the NHS go under the auctioneer’s hammer. On March 1, East Coast trains, which was renationalised in 2009, was passed to Virgin Trains – giving it the dubious honour of being privatised twice.But Royal Mail is already gone. Since the Tories came to power in 2010 we've seen probation services, roads and some of the education sector and the NHS go under the auctioneer’s hammer. On March 1, East Coast trains, which was renationalised in 2009, was passed to Virgin Trains – giving it the dubious honour of being privatised twice.
George Osborne said he wanted to see £20 billion of state assets sold by 2020 as part of a plan to tackle British debt. But what’s left to sell?George Osborne said he wanted to see £20 billion of state assets sold by 2020 as part of a plan to tackle British debt. But what’s left to sell?
The Post Office provides the stamps (alongside banking and bill payment services) for the letters delivered by Royal Mail, which floated on the stock exchange in 2012. The same act that privatised Royal Mail also contained the option for the Postal Service to become a mutual organisation – where each post office owned a share of the business – to counter annual losses and branch closures. Read more: The Great British sell-off. Who’s in?
The UK government owns and manages an 81 per cent stake of the RBS Group through UK Financial Investments – a company set up in 2008 to manage the Treasury’s shareholdings in UK banks. The government’s voting rights are limited to 75 per cent so the bank can continue to be listed on the London Stock Exchange.
Set up in 2001 as Partnerships for Health, Community Health Partnerships is in charge of setting up public-private partnerships to invest in new healthcare facilities in England.
This is the company set up to build the high speed railway. Originally private, the company had to be nationalised in 2009 after it ran into financial difficulty. In 2010 a group of Canadian teachers – the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan – bought the operating rights for £2.1 billion for 30-years – after which time the government is hoping to sell it for a much bigger sum.
The Treasury holds a 23.9 per cent stake in Lloyds – a much lower proportion than the 41 per cent it owned after the financial crisis hit in 2008. The government started selling Lloyds shares in 2013 – the latest sale means it has now raised nearly £8 billion from the venture.
Shareholders in Bradford & Bingley were not given any compensation when the government bought out Bradford & Bingley in 2008 – many of whom now argue that the takeover was botched job that left nearly a million investors dispossessed.
A wholly owned subsidiary of the UK Government’s Nuclear Decommissioning Authority, INS manages and transports nuclear fuels such as uranium, MOX fuel, irradiated fuel and nuclear waste.
Ownership of the Student Loans Company is shared between the governments of the UK, with the department for business, innovation and skills owning a majority stake (85 per cent). Since the late nineties, the government has been selling the loans themselves, however. Last year the government said it would start selling the £12 billion book of 1998-2012 loans.
The company that makes all the UK’s coins and notes is wholly owned by the Treasury, which delegates shareholder responsibilities to the government’s Department for Business, Innovation and Skills.
A new funding institution fcreated in 2012 to attract funds for environmental preservation and improvement, the Green Investment Bank is structured as a public limited company and owned by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills.