Give schools a stake in NatWest and teach young people about investing, says UK’s first ISA millionaire
Schools should be given a share of the government’s stake in NatWest to teach young people about investing, according to the UK’s first ISA millionaire.
Lord (John) Lee of Trafford, the first person to earn £1m through a tax-efficient Individual Savings Account (ISA), believes the government’s stake in the bank, acquired when it was bailed out during the 2008 financial crisis, could be used to provide education for pupils.
Lee has written a children’s book about the stock market.
The previous Conservative government had planned to offer shares to the public in a sale similar to the privatisations of the 1980s.
Solution: Lord Lee of Trafford (pictured) believes the government’s stake in the bank, acquired when it was bailed out in 2008, could be used to educate pupils
But last month, Labour’s finance minister Rachel Reeves said the £5.6bn taxpayer stake would instead be offered to pension funds, insurers and asset managers.
Lee wants her to give every state secondary school in the country around £5,000 worth of shares, which he estimates would cost around £20 million.
His idea is that pupils can then vote on how they want to spend the £350 annual dividend, for example to fund a school trip, make a donation to charity or invest the money in more shares.
“This would be a real opportunity for young people to get involved themselves,” the Liberal Democrat MP told the Mail.
‘It would increase their knowledge of the stock market and they would learn more about dividends and banks.
“We can all agree that the financial education in our schools is abysmal,” Lee believes, adding that it would be a corrective to the misinformation on social media platforms that encourages young people to delve into cryptocurrency trading.
He submitted his proposal to the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Education.
Labour’s decision to halt sales of NatWest shares to the public is being seen as a missed opportunity to encourage people to invest and revive the London stock market.
Former Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt and the private investor lobby group ShareSoc were among the most outspoken critics.
The former Conservative government had planned to launch a ‘Tell Sid’-style campaign, using the slogan used in 1986 to encourage the public to buy British Gas shares.
NatWest had already spent £24m on an advertising campaign to promote the share sale, starring Sir Trevor McDonald.
But the bank had to stop the campaign, whereupon the seasoned newsreader asked: ‘Are you in?’
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