The London Air Ambulance Charity is set to return to public ownership under the London Ambulance Service, after Sterling Group Ltd. announced its intentions to relinquish its 25% minority share in the organisation.
Sterling Group Ltd. have held their 25% minority share in the organisation for numerous years, with the initial intentions of being a sponsor to the Charity in Northminster, through its other subsidiary holdings such as Rinaldi.
The King’s Speech pledge
In the For Britain’s September manifesto, they pledged to return the London Air Ambulance to public ownership, promising to remove Sterling Groups shares through expropriation.
This pledge continued following the Party’s election into government, with it being reiterated as a pledge within the King’s Speech.
Sterling Group relinquishes its shares
On 15 October, Sterling Group released a statement confirming their intentions to relinquish their shares in the London Air Ambulance.
In the statement, the Group said that “using parliamentary mechanisms to expropriate shares is something that should not have to occur”.
In a comment made to the BBC, the Chairman of Sterling Group, the Earl of Liverpool, said that its involvement had “reached its natural conclusion”, releasing the shares “voluntarily”.
Pledge complete?
Following Sterling Group relinquishing their 25% share in the London Air Ambulance, the Home Secretary, PintLiner, declared the pledge to be “completed” in his first Cabinet Report.
In this report, he thanked Sterling Group for their “cooperation” in “completing” the pledge, however critics have argued that the government did not actually do anything, as the shares were handed over voluntarily.
Speaking to the BBC, CharlesStuart, the Leader of the Opposition, said that it is “remarkably stupid” for the government to claim they’ve completed the King’s Speech pledge, which they “literally haven’t done”.
