Following the announcement by the government of an RBS share sale and the Labour Party's criticism, Sam Dumitriu of the Adam Smith Institute calls on the government to follow sound investment strategies, not populism:

“Labour are wrong to oppose plans to sell-off RBS shares. It is a mistake to think that just because they were once twice as valuable that they will be again. The state-owned bank’s share price has fallen by 50 pence since the last sell-off three years ago.

If George Osborne had followed Mr McDonnell’s advice, then we would £320m worse off. Chasing your losses is not a sound investment strategy, it’s problem gambling.”

Please contact Matt Kilcoyne (matt@adamsmith.org or 07904099599) if you would like to arrange an interview or further comment from ASI staff.