{"id":5234,"date":"2015-08-12T16:20:58","date_gmt":"2015-08-12T15:20:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/unitelive.org\/?p=5234"},"modified":"2015-08-12T16:20:58","modified_gmt":"2015-08-12T15:20:58","slug":"stop-the-fire-sale","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/?p=5234","title":{"rendered":"Stop the fire sale"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Campaigners from Unite and other groups gathered outside the Treasury this morning (August 12) to protest chancellor George Osborne\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s knock-down sale of taxpayers\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 stake in RBS.<\/p>\n

 
\nLast week (August 4), Osborne\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s grand bank share giveaway kicked off, with 600m shares being sold to institutional investors, resulting in a \u00c2\u01411bn loss to the taxpayer overnight.<\/p>\n

 
\nDuring the protest, organised by Move Your Money<\/a> and supported by Unite, the New Economics Foundation<\/a>, We Own It<\/a>, SumofUs<\/a>, and the Robin Hood Tax<\/a> campaign, activists presented a petition with more than 100,000 signatures to the Treasury, calling on the chancellor to halt the bank\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s sell-off.<\/p>\n

 
\nOne of the protestors, wearing a giant papier-m\u0102\u02d8ch\u0102\u00a9 head of Osborne, held a mock auction in which shares were sold-off to activists dressed as hedge fund managers \u00e2\u20ac\u201c with the biggest shares going to the lowest bidder.<\/p>\n

 
\nUnite national officer for finance Rob MacGregor supported the protest on behalf of Unite\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s RBS members.<\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bWe\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re supporting this action today because George Osborne\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s fire sale of the public stake in RBS, essentially a taxpayer subsided privatisation, is a disgrace and it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s clear from the strength of the petition that the public agree with us,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 MacGregor said.<\/p>\n

 
\nBy selling our shares in RBS at mates\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 rates to the hedge funds, Osborne has lost the Treasury over \u00c2\u01411bn, a figure expected to rise to over \u00c2\u014114bn by the time the sell-off is complete,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he added. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bYet this isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t just about the share price, the sale is a political decision by George Osborne.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 
\nThe sell-off comes just as Osborne is pushing through \u00c2\u014112bn in welfare cuts which will hit the poorest and most vulnerable the hardest.<\/p>\n

 
\nMacGregor maintained that keeping a bank owned by the public is an opportunity for the government to invest in fixing the broken banking system.<\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bAfter handing over so much of our money to the banks in 2008, the least we should expect is for our public stake to be put to use to clean up the industry and end the boardroom culture of misconduct that led to the crisis in the first place,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he said. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bBy selling off the public\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s shares Osborne is purposefully throwing away the opportunity to bring scrutiny, transparency to one of Britain\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s largest banks.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 
\nLend your support to our campaign against the RBS sell-off \u00e2\u20ac\u201c sign the SumofUs petition here.<\/a><\/p>\n

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