Schools should be given a slice of the Government’s NatWest stake to teach youngsters about investing, according to the UK’s first ISA millionaire.
Lord (John) Lee of Trafford, the first person to make £1million through a tax-efficient Individual Savings Account (ISA), believes the Government’s stake in the bank, acquired when it was bailed out in the financial crisis in 2008, could be used to educate pupils.
Lee has written a book for children about the stock market.
The previous Conservative government planned to offer shares to the public in a sale similar to privatisations in 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 Chancellor Rachel Reeves said the £5.6billion taxpayer stake will 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 reckons would cost around £20million.
His idea is that pupils then could vote on how to spend the £350 annual dividend, for instance to subsidise a school trip, a donation to charity or investing it in more shares.
‘This would be a real hands-on opportunity for youngsters,’ the Liberal Democrat peer told the Mail.
‘It would increase their awareness of the stock market and they would learn about dividends and banks.
‘We all agree financial education in our schools is lamentable.’ Lee believes it would be a corrective to misinformation found on social media platforms encouraging young people to get sucked into cryptocurrency trading.
He has put his proposal to the Treasury and the department of education.
Labour’s decision to abandon the sale of NatWest shares to the public has been branded a missed chance to encourage people to develop investment habits and to reinvigorate the London stock market.
Former Chancellor Jeremy Hunt and private investors’ lobby group ShareSoc were among the most vocal critics.
The former Conservative government had been planning to launch a ‘Tell Sid’-style push, using the slogan that encouraged the public to buy shares in British Gas back in 1986.
NatWest had already spent £24million on an advertising campaign to promote the share sale, featuring Sir Trevor McDonald.
But the bank was forced to shelve the campaign, in which the veteran news reader asked: ‘Are you in?’
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