We have to sell the family silver – we need the cash to pay the bills

Complaining that Britain is selling off its industrial assets is pointless, says Matthew Lynn. We need the money.

The British have traditionally not worried about selling off national assets. The car industry has been carved up between different global manufacturers.So have the airports, the electricity and water companies, and a big chunk of the media. Even our football clubs are mostly owned overseas these days.

If it moves, we're usually happy to flog it off to any passing Russian oligarch, American conglomerate, or rising Chinese industrialist. Arguments about national champions and industrial strategy we leave to the French.

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Matthew Lynn

Matthew Lynn is a columnist for Bloomberg, and writes weekly commentary syndicated in papers such as the Daily Telegraph, Die Welt, the Sydney Morning Herald, the South China Morning Post and the Miami Herald. He is also an associate editor of Spectator Business, and a regular contributor to The Spectator. Before that, he worked for the business section of the Sunday Times for ten years. 

He has written books on finance and financial topics, including Bust: Greece, The Euro and The Sovereign Debt Crisis and The Long Depression: The Slump of 2008 to 2031. Matthew is also the author of the Death Force series of military thrillers and the founder of Lume Books, an independent publisher.