A long time ago, whenever there was a spending squeeze in the Hipwood household in Tettenhall, one of my mother’s favourite sayings was ‘money doesn’t grow on trees’, writes John Hipwood.

Now it seems it does, or is about to when the Coalition Government starts selling off the nation’s forests ­ trees and all.

A quarter of a century ago Harold Macmillan delivered one of his most famous speeches at the age of 91 when he described Margaret Thatcher’s privatisation policy as being equivalent to “selling off the family silver”.

The former Conservative prime minister thought that disposing off utilities like gas and telecoms and industries like steel production meant that Britain had been reduced to the sort of desperate acts carried out by individuals or households when they were on their uppers.

“First of all the Georgian silver goes. And that nice furniture that used to be in the salon. Then the Canalettos go,” he said.

The terminology makes us smile today, but the “selling off the family silver” line made headlines. It didn’t, of course, stop Mrs Thatcher’s privatisation process continuing apace.

Sales of the nation’s assets have continued on and off ever since. Anything from the Tote to the Dartford Crossing has or will come under the auctioneer’s hammer.

But Cannock Chase, Sherwood Forest, the New Forest, the Forest of Dean turned into massive Center Parcs? The mind boggles.

Forests are for finding solitude if you want it, walking with the children or the dog and marvelling at the birdlife, the mammals, the trees and plants and the in-word, the biodiversity.

Imagine strolling through the trees admiring the spectacular autumn colours and then finding yourself faced with a bunch of screaming paint-ballers out for a “bonding weekend” with their workmates from the City of London.

As the Government unveils its plans over the coming months, you will hear assurances from the likes of Environment Secretary Caroline Spelman that the public will still be able to enjoy the landscapes currently under the control of the Forestry Commission and Natural England.

But at a time when her departmental budget faces a 30 per cent cut by 2015, it’s the money (or lack of it) that’s talking. The idea of selling off nearly two million acres of land which the public feels belongs to them would be laughed off the agenda if it weren’t for the state of the nation’s finances.

This is, neverthless, a desperate move which will never be reversible. It’s not like taking the family silver down to the pawnbroker and buying it back when the financial corner had been turned. Once the forests have gone, they’re gone.

Miles and miles of permissive paths wind their way across Forestry Commission land. It’s likely that some, perhaps many, won’t remain open under private ownership.

Another precious freedom felled.

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Business Secretary Vince Cable used to be opposed to the sale of national assets at times like this when prices are depressed by the financial state in which the country finds itself.

Criticising what he considered to be hasty sell-off proposals by the last Labour government a couple of years ago, he said: “Because the budget position is so bad, the Labour Party will do anything to realise cash without necessarily trying to get best value for the taxpayer. The worry is that the Treasury has no commercial acumen at all.”

Presumably he now feels that the Treasury (the same civil servants under now under new management) has suddenly acquired that acumen.

The former Liberal Democrat Treasury spokesman will be in the spotlight on Wednesday when the Bill to privatise the Royal Mail will be subject to a crucial vote in the House of Commons.

Going further than the part-privatisation plan put forward by the last administration, Mr Cable has said that private buyers, foreign firms included, will be able to buy up to 90 per cent of the Royal Mail while the Post Office will come under John Lewis-style mutual ownership.

At least 10 per cent of Royal Mail shares will be offered to the staff, but the majority of workers ­ and their union representatives ­ are opposed to the plan.

The big difference between this privatisation and selling off national treasures like our forests or money-spinning assets like the Dartford Crossing is the Royal Mail pension fund, which currently has a deficit of more than £8 billion.

Taxpayers will still be responsible for the deficit as the Government will take on the bulk of the assets and liabilities of the pension fund to make the business more attractive to potential buyers.

Mr Cable, nevertheless, believes that it’s the least worst option for both Royal Mail staff and the taxpayer.

“It will give employees a stable company to work for, shares in the future of the business and the secure pension they deserve. It will remove the risk to taxpayers of an expensive bailout,” he said.

Union leaders say that the sell-off will lead to the end of universal postage rates, higher prices and the end of daily collections and deliveries.

The Post Office network, which took such a pounding under the Labour government, will not be part of the sell-off, but will eventually be run by a co-operative which could include employees, sub-postmasters and local communities.

The Government will win the vote on Wednesday night, but expect opposition to the Bill to continue.

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Tony Blair once described himself as a pretty regular kind of guy, and probably lives to regret the remark.

On Desert Island Discs yesterday, Kirsty Young coaxed some revelations from Nick Clegg which gave us a bit more of an insight into his personality.

The choice of records is always illuminating, and you can usually spot the picks which are made for image purposes rather than because they are genuinely liked by the programme’s guest.

One of Mr Clegg’s choices was Shakira’s World Cup song, Waka Waka: hardly a favourite, you might think, of a sophisticated 43-yearold man.

He explained that Waka Waka were the first words he heard every morning from his 20-month-old son, Miguel, who wanted the song played on wife Miriam’s iPod. Stuck alone on a desert island, Mr Clegg would want to be reminded of this scene.

The Deputy Prime Minister also confessed that his children did not know that he liked an occasional cigarette. He can be sure they will sniff him out before too long.

Forget the politics. Since first meeting him some years ago, I have always reckoned that Nick Clegg is a regular kind of guy.