Were you preparing to do your patriotic duty by investing in a “British Isa”, that late-in-the-day invention of Jeremy Hunt when the last government was scratching around for ideas to perk up the UK stock market? Tough: it looks like you won’t now have the chance.
Rachel Reeves is poised to kill the Brit Isa before it has been launched, reports the FT, on the grounds that its design was too damn complicated. The new chancellor is correct; Hunt’s version was a muddle. If the aim was to boost investment flows into UK-listed companies, it would have involved a lot of faff for little gain.
