Labour’s nationalisation plans have come under sustained attack from the British elite over the past few days. The right has allowed its political defence of the elite to blur the facts around the finance of nationalisation Robert Colvile, the director of the Centre for Policy Studies think thank has called the plans “ruinous”, with the think tank arguing that the plans amount to nothing more than a “£176bn gamble”. i's opinion newsletter: talking points from today Email address is invalid Email address is invalid Thank you for subscribing! Sorry, there was a problem with your subscription.

In some ways, this is unsurprising. The Centre for Policy Studies was co-founded by Margaret Thatcher in 1974. Its board includes no less than four Tory donors, three Tory Peers and a sitting Tory MP. The Duchess of Cornwall’s nephew, an adviser to former Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney, the Chairman of HSBC bank, the Chairman of the Times newspaper group and the wife of the owner of the Daily Mail are also on the list.

For the Centre to make a fair assessment of Labour’s nationalisation plans would fly in the face of the reason for its very existence.

The right has allowed its political defence of the elite to blur the facts around the finance of nationalisation. Don’t just take my word for it. In a Times editorial on 26 September – which was hardly supportive of Labour’s proposals – the paper noted that “the Conservatives are in a state of political exhaustion and ideological chaos”.

The Centre for Policy Studies has complained that Labour’s plans will cost an awful lot of money, but to focus on this is to miss the point of the proposals.