Without wanting to sound like a jeremiad from the Daily Mail, I should warn you that Rachel Reeves is after your money. Part of her plan to grow the UK economy involves persuading cautious Britons to take more risks with their savings. It’s a win-win, she says. British business gets more investment and savers get better returns. The “nation of shopkeepers” becomes a nation of investors.
And it could all work out like that, of course. But there is the potential for things to go horribly wrong if the mooted letters from banks suggesting different investments and changes to risk warnings are done badly. There is also the danger of persuading people into the market in the good times, only for them to find themselves nursing losses in the next downturn.
