UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown has confirmed the planned sale of British government assets worth 17 billion euros.

They include its stake in the cross channel rail link and in uranium-processing firm Urenco. Also up for sale, the betting company The Tote which runs hundreds of bookies around Britain as well as internet gambling. The idea is to halve Britain’s budget deficit over the next four years. The asset sales – to take place over the next two years – will also include student loan debts. Brown told a business gathering in London: “Our deficit reduction plan is detailed, it is far-ranging, it takes account of the issues. I think the difference it and other parties is that we are determined that deficit reduction can happen in a way that does not lead to deterioration in the front-line public services.” Brown – whose Labour party is trailing the opposition Conservatives in opinion polls – faces a general election by next June. He warned against reversing monetary and fiscal stimulus too soon saying that would “imperil the recovery.”More about: Gordon Brown, United Kingdom

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