Bright Blue, the independent think tank for liberal conservatism and home of conservative modernisers, today criticises the Government’s announcement of its intention to privatise the UK Green Investment Bank (GIB).

Ben Caldecott, an Associate Fellow of Bright Blue and a former advisor to the UK Green Investment Bank Commission, said:

"I admire the UK Green Investment Bank and what it has achieved so far, but the last thing we need is a publicly supported, but privately owned, asset manager using subsidised capital and jobs to compete with the private sector. In contrast a majority publicly owned institution can work in the public interest to catalyse new private investment and be truly additional, by helping the private sector to reduce the cost of capital for important projects that can deal with our national productivity crisis.”

Ben Caldecott is the author of Bright Blue’s new publication, Green and Responsible Conservatism: Embedding sustainability and long-termism within the UK economy, which will be published at the start of July 2015. The report will propose ambitious and cost-effective policies to build a greener and more long-term economy based around three major themes: tackling the tragedy of horizons in public and private sector institutions, securing value for money in relation to environmental outcomes, and urging a new internationalism to address climate change.