BRITISH taxpayers lost out on £15billion because state-owned assets were flogged off far too cheaply thanks to EU rules, it emerged today.
Brussels forced the UK to sell several of the assets owned by Royal Bank of Scotland in the aftermath of the financial crisis.
A new assessment claims that the assets – which include the insurer Direct Line – should have fetched an extra £15billion.
The lost windfall would have eased the pressure of austerity and has led to calls for a new investigation into the fire sales.
From 2010 to this year, state-owned RBS sold off several of its divisions including Direct Line, payments firm Worldpay, and US bank Citizens.
Worldpay was sold to a private equity company for £2billion, but was yesterday bought by an American firm for £9billion.
RBS raked in £3billion from the sale of Direct Line – but now, the firm is worth nearly £5billion on the stock market.
The Financial Times calculates that adding together all the forced sales, the state has missed out on a total of £15billion in gains which have instead gone to shareholders and business tycoons.
One reason for the mass sell-off is that EU rules require any bailed-out bank to shed assets so money can be returned to the state as quickly as possible.
But if the priority for selling assets is speed, investors are able to snap up bargains which could leave the Government short-changed.
Tory MP John Penrose slammed the EU over the losses, telling the FT: “EU regulators forced a distress sale, which immediately meant it was a buyer’s market where taxpayers wouldn’t get the returns they deserved.”
But John McDonnell blamed the Conservatives for failing to push a harder bargain when selling the firms.
He said: “This raises further serious questions over the Tories’ ability to get value for money for the taxpayer.
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“Their promotion of a ‘sell first, think later’ approach to the custodianship of state assets has meant that the public are constantly short-changed.
“It is beyond irresponsible for the Government to allow public assets to be sold far below their real value.”
The losses incurred by the RBS sales dwarf £5billion lost by Gordon Brown’s decision to sell Britain’s gold reserves when the market was at a historic low.