A Channel 4 sell-off would wake up Sid and reinvigorate popular capitalism

The government should forge ahead with plans to privatise Channel 4, says Matthew Lynn. And small investors should get first dibs on the shares.

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It's a very odd thing for the state to own

As gaffes go, it probably didn't have the same kind of impact as leaking plans to bomb Syria,or leaving David Cameron's "red lines" for renegotiated European Union membership lying on the train. It didn't even mention pigs. Even so, it was mildly embarrassing for an official to be photographed strolling into Downing Street with a document on privatising Channel 4 under their arm. But there's nothing to be embarrassed about.The sale of Channel 4 is a good idea and could be a very popular one too.

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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.