Rachel Reeves’ second Mansion House Accord, with pension funds pledging to allocate 10 per cent of funds to private markets — with 5 per cent going to UK assets — should be welcomed (Report, May 14). The elephant in the room is how to reverse underinvestment in undervalued UK equities.
As City minister, I commissioned several reviews to address this and I can see some reforms are being taken forward. However, we must go further and faster.
Some suggest mandation but before we cross that line I would be focusing on reversing the damage of the removal of tax reliefs paid on dividends received from UK firms and reform stamp duty on share transactions.
Government and regulators have the power and support to shake-up share ownership in this country and should seize the moment.
The Rt Hon John Glen MP
Member of Parliament for Salisbury and South Wiltshire
