Gordon Brown sells off family silver

In view of its growing mountain of debts the British government plans to sell off state property worth around 16 billion pounds. Among other things the Eurotunnel which runs under the English Channel is for sale. The left-liberal daily La Repubblica comments: "Such things happen even in the best families: when business is going badly and you've got into debt the family silver goes under the hammer. This is also the last resort a heavy-hearted [British Prime Minister] Gordon Brown - the UK's 'family head' - opted for yesterday. … This is the largest programme for privatising state property England has undertaken since the times of Margaret Thatcher, who among other things sold the British railway network. … The goal back then was above all ideological in nature: disburden the state and liberalise the market. … Brown's decision is not ideological, but dictated by financial mismanagement. … But it is also a political operation. Brown wants to deflect the accusations of the Conservatives that he has turned generations of British taxpayers into debtors. That's why he's flogging off the family silver. Who knows whether it will help him to win votes [in the elections next spring]."

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