PM to sell £16bn of government assets

Gordon Brown will later today unveil plans to sell off £16 billion worth of government assets as part of proposals to cut the country's soaring budget deficit.

Government sources claim the plans will involve the selling of a 'portfolio of non-financial assets' held by Whitehall and local authorities.

The prime minister is due to give a speech on the economy later when he will claim the initial sales could raise up to £3 billion.

The plans, however, have already drawn criticism from some opposition MPs, with the Liberal Democrats describing it as the 'largest sell-off since the 1980s privatisations'.

Public borrowing is set to reach £175 billion next year and the Conservatives have cautiously agreed the move to sell government assets is needed but does not represent a clear vision for the future.

'Given the state the country is in is probably necessary but it is no substitute for a long-term plan to get the country to live within its means,' a Tory spokesman is quoted by the Guardian as saying.

Vince Cable, the Lib Dem Treasury spokesman also said: 'Given the state of the public finances, asset sales, at least in principle, make sense.

'However as we saw with the sale of the defence technology company QinetiQ, this government does not have a good track record in getting the taxpayer a good price from asset sales.

'Attempts to sell off large amounts of government land into a very depressed market as we have now would be frankly barmy. These asset sales should be based on a financial calculation not a political one.'

The initial plans will include the selling of the Channel Tunnel, the bridge and tunnel crossing over the Thames at Dartford and the government's stake in the uranium processing company Urenco.