Politicians looking for relatively painless ways to fill Britain’s budget hole are eyeing asset sales. In February, both major parties backed the now-suspended plan to sell one third of Royal Mail. Last month, the Tories suggested a sell-down of government stakes in Lloyds Banking Group and Royal Bank of Scotland. And now, Gordon Brown has again tabled public asset sales as a means of stemming Britain’s debt haemorrhage. Included in the prime minister’s two-year plan is £3bn from the sale of assets such as the Tote bookmakers and Channel tunnel link, and £13bn from the sale of mainly local government real estate.

A £16bn asset sale is merely a bug on the windscreen of the public debt train, which has sped through £800bn and continues to accelerate. Britain’s probable deficit of about 12.4 per cent of gross domestic product, or £175bn, is the highest among Group of 20 nations. The US deficit of $1,400bn converts to a mere 10 per cent of output. And the assets themselves are no Rolls-Royces. The Thatcherite wave of privatisations saw the sale of the centrepieces of the nation’s family silver, including British Gas and British Airways. Today, the government is left touting the spare cutlery. Public spending cuts will, therefore, remain front and centre.