When it comes to rolling back the state, one political sleight of hand is to summon the spirit of Margaret Thatcher. After all, it was the Iron Lady who launched the idea of popular capitalism on the world in the 1980s, with a series of UK retail privatisations marked by the famous “Tell Sid” campaign. More than 20 years later, Britain’s opposition Conservative party is considering doing much the same again. The Tories have said that if they win next year’s elections, they might sell down the government’s stakes in Lloyds Banking Group and Royal Bank of Scotland to the public.

Easier said than done. Today’s target audience is better educated about popular capitalism – and also more sceptical. The privatisation of BG Group – which eventually led to the creation of Centrica, National Grid and BG – has provided a handsome, perhaps 10-fold, return. Privatised water companies have also done well. But BT’s share price is now back where it was when first floated. Railtrack has been renationalised. British Steel has gone much the same way as the UK’s car industry.