• Privacy policy
  • T&C’s
  • About Us
    • FAQ
    • Meet the Team
  • Contact us
  • Guest Content
TLE ONLINE SHOP!
  • TLE
  • News
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Sport
  • Opinion
  • Elevenses
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • Film
    • Lifestyle
      • Horoscopes
    • Lottery Results
      • Lotto
      • Thunderball
      • Set For Life
      • EuroMillions
  • Food
    • All Food
    • Recipes
  • Property
  • Travel
  • Tech/Auto
  • JOBS
No Result
View All Result
The London Economic
SUPPORT THE LONDON ECONOMIC
NEWSLETTER
  • TLE
  • News
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Sport
  • Opinion
  • Elevenses
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • Film
    • Lifestyle
      • Horoscopes
    • Lottery Results
      • Lotto
      • Thunderball
      • Set For Life
      • EuroMillions
  • Food
    • All Food
    • Recipes
  • Property
  • Travel
  • Tech/Auto
  • JOBS
No Result
View All Result
The London Economic
No Result
View All Result
Home Business and Economics

Government should invest £15bn in firms and sell stakes to public – report

Unlocking Britain also proposes offering discounted shares to lower-paid NHS workers and younger people.

Jack Peat by Jack Peat
2020-06-17 08:46
in Business and Economics
FacebookTwitterLinkedinEmailWhatsapp

Chancellor Rishi Sunak should spend £15 billion investing directly into British businesses in exchange for shares that would one day be sold to the public, a new report has suggested.

The Social Market Foundation (SMF) report by Conservative MP Bim Afolami said the Treasury should focus on making investments into small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to help them recover after the coronavirus crisis.

Ministers have previously offered start-up loans to businesses and offered investment, but not on the scale being proposed by the think-tank and Mr Afolami’s Recovery Fund, which would be floated on the London Stock Exchange.

Unlocking Britain

The report, titled Unlocking Britain, also proposes offering discounted shares to lower-paid NHS workers and younger people, which could encourage saving.

Mr Afolami, a member of the SMF’s cross-party advisory board and private parliamentary secretary to Work and Pensions Secretary Therese Coffey, is expected to raise the idea in Parliament on Wednesday.

The proposal is one of 10 suggestions, which also include abolishing district councils and pressing private schools to make online learning available to state school children.

The report also says that ISA savers should be able to invest directly in British companies, potentially putting up to £6 billion a year into businesses in need of support.

Mr Afolami said the £15 billion could be borrowed and invested via the Government’s British Business Bank, with the bank using commercial fund managers to avoid any potential for political interference.

Short-term support for long-term ownership

He added: “We should use the financial power of the state to provide short-term support for small and medium-sized British companies, then in the long term to widen ownership of British business and give more people a stake in the economy. This plan would deliver a strong recovery and a fair economy.”

RelatedPosts

Brexit ‘costing UK economy £100bn a year’, Telegraph says

UK economy set to slam into reverse in 2023 as outlook improves for other G7 nations

BBC reporting ‘not politically biased’, but ‘strongly led by Westminster narrative’

Britishvolt closure a ‘monument to global Britain’s empty hype’

James Kirkup, SMF director, said: “We will need new economic thinking to get us out of the coronavirus recession, and the idea of governments investing in companies to support the recovery should be studied carefully.

“A sensible economic partnership between the state and the private sector is something people of all parties should embrace. So, too, is a stakeholder economy where ownership is spread more widely.”

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has already indicated that the Government would set out a plan to rescue the economy from the coronavirus crisis before the summer, with suggestions it would be before the July 21 Summer recess.

The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) has forecast that interventions, including the furlough scheme and tax breaks for commercial properties, will cost the Treasury £132.5 billion.

Borrowing could hit £298.4 billion this year as a result of the coronavirus crisis, the OBR said last month, and Mr Sunak has hinted at tax increases to “right the ship”.

Related: 600,000 fewer in jobs since March in UK

Content Protection by DMCA.com

Since you are here

Since you are here, we wanted to ask for your help.

Journalism in Britain is under threat. The government is becoming increasingly authoritarian and our media is run by a handful of billionaires, most of whom reside overseas and all of them have strong political allegiances and financial motivations.

Our mission is to hold the powerful to account. It is vital that free media is allowed to exist to expose hypocrisy, corruption, wrongdoing and abuse of power. But we can't do it without you.

If you can afford to contribute a small donation to the site it will help us to continue our work in the best interests of the public. We only ask you to donate what you can afford, with an option to cancel your subscription at any point.

To donate or subscribe to The London Economic, click here.

The TLE shop is also now open, with all profits going to supporting our work.

The shop can be found here.

You can also SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER .

Subscribe to our Newsletter

View our  Privacy Policy and Terms & Conditions

Trending on TLE

  • All
  • trending
Abdollah

‘Rescue us’: Afghan teacher begs UK to help him escape Taliban

CHOMSKY: “If Corbyn had been elected, Britain would be pursuing a much more sane course”

What If We Got Rid Of Prisons?

More from TLE

Man who punched himself in face over EU banana straitening story, won’t fall for project fear

Oliver Dowden’s comment about PM has aged terribly – there is ALWAYS a tweet

All the information about “block making machines” that you must know if you are in the industry

Brexit Video – Cabinet Minister: “F*ck knows. I’m past caring”

Bristol bouncer says Covid is making colleagues ‘drop faster than Brexit benefits’

Labour Party reports newspapers to press regulator over Corbyn Tunisia memorial reports

Restaurant Review: Mere

Weather forecast, alerts and UVB index for London, Sunday 13 December 2020

‘The absolute maestro’: James O’Brien’s reaction to Beergate verdict wins widespread plaudits

PLAYLIST: Best of OCTOBER 2019

JOBS

FIND MORE JOBS

About Us

TheLondonEconomic.com – Open, accessible and accountable news, sport, culture and lifestyle.

Read more

Contact

Editorial enquiries, please contact: [email protected]

Commercial enquiries, please contact: [email protected]

Address

The London Economic Newspaper Limited t/a TLE
Company number 09221879
International House,
24 Holborn Viaduct,
London EC1A 2BN,
United Kingdom

SUPPORT

We do not charge or put articles behind a paywall. If you can, please show your appreciation for our free content by donating whatever you think is fair to help keep TLE growing and support real, independent, investigative journalism.

DONATE & SUPPORT

© 2019 thelondoneconomic.com - TLE, International House, 24 Holborn Viaduct, London EC1A 2BN. All Rights Reserved.




No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Sport
  • Entertainment
  • Lifestyle
  • Food
  • Travel
  • JOBS
  • More…
    • Elevenses
    • Opinion
    • Property
    • Tech & Auto
  • About Us
    • Meet the Team
    • Privacy policy
  • Contact us

© 2019 thelondoneconomic.com - TLE, International House, 24 Holborn Viaduct, London EC1A 2BN. All Rights Reserved.