PARLIAMENTARY EARLY DAY MOTION
SALE OF PUBLIC ASSETS (16 November 2016)

That this House notes that the Government appears rightly ambivalent about selling off profitable national assets, no final decisions having been made on privatising the Land Registry and Channel 4, while plans are at an early stage for selling off the public stake in National Air Traffic Services (NATS) and introducing private sector capital into Ordnance Survey; welcomes the publication of the report by We Own It and the New Economics Foundation, entitled Future profits vs short term cash: What's at stake in the Great British sell off; further notes the conclusion of this report states that selling off profitable public assets means that the country loses out in the long run on future revenue; notes that within 10 years the British public will be losing funds as a result of the Royal Mail privatisation; notes that the Land Registry sale would decrease the public purse in 25 years' time and that from NATS the country would lose out in just seven years; is proud of the UK’s successful innovative public assets; believes that such assets are important to the future of the country; and calls on the Government to confirm in the Autumn Statement that these national treasures will stay in public hands.

Sponsored by:
Caroline Lucas (Green Party)