Brown's £16bn fire sale of Tote, Channel Tunnel and Dartford Crossing is 'barmy', says Cable

Gordon Brown's £16billion sell-off of public assets to cut the national deficit came under fire today. The Prime Minister said an initial round of disposals - including the Tote, the Dartford crossing, the Channel Tunnel rail link, the student loan book and the stake in uranium enrichment consortium Urenco - could bring in £3billion over the next two years.

Much of the remaining funds would be realised by encouraging local authorities to exchange assets for cash.