Stock Market: First-time Investors

Lord Empey Excerpts

Monday 3rd February 2025 Lords Chamber

[Lord Empey (UUP)]

My Lords, such is the reputation of the noble Lord, Lord Lee of Trafford, that when a couple of colleagues heard I was speaking in this debate, they said, “We’ll see you tomorrow and get a few good tips”.

In the noble Lord’s opening remarks, I think he listed seven points, which I obviously cannot deal with tonight, but there were some good ideas. One point he touched on was education. One thing we do not do in this country, generally speaking, is teach our children practical examples of the world they are entering into. We read recently—I think it was last week—that Generation Z do not know how to change a lightbulb. We do not teach people how to interact with their own Government—with Revenue and Customs—and practical things like that. But there are examples, even at primary level, where some far-seeing teachers—even for primary school kids—get them organised to run little businesses in their own schools. We should teach people where money comes from. People assume that it is just there; it is the Government’s, and they will provide it.

There is a difference between this country and the United States in the availability of investment. Understandably, we have to protect people, and we know that the stock market is a form of gambling. But we do nothing about the real gambling. When we had the Budget, we had the opportunity to tax the gambling companies; we did not. Instead, we taxed the pensioners, and these people get away with it. We know what the risk is, as the chances of winning are miniscule. At least with a share, there is a chance of a long-term investment and there is usually some asset—not always, but usually.

We have this perverse situation where we put the most vulnerable people in our community at the mercy of companies that are fleecing them. They even have people knowing what to do at 3 am when a certain demographic is unsettled and are watching their programmes. They came and gave evidence to a committee I was on in your Lordships’ House and openly told us.

We have to educate, and that has to go right down to the schools. People have to understand where wealth and jobs come from. They do not come from the Government. The Government are taking that money from people who make it, quite rightly, and spending it on public services. We do not connect the dots. If people are not taught that through their education, we lose it.

There is also the fact that there is a vast amount of capital that is unproductive. In some US states, they even forced their pensions to ensure that a certain percentage of their assets were invested in women’s businesses, so that women were encouraged to become actively involved in business, and it was quite successful. But we are not focused on business. We are not focused on the competition we are facing. We take this very lackadaisical approach.

The noble Lord, Lord Lee, has raised a flag for a number of issues. It does not simply apply to first-time investors. I think we have our whole reward scheme system completely wrong, as the noble Baroness, Lady Bowles, has just told us with some specifics. I hope that the Government will look seriously at ensuring that our education system teaches our children about some practical things they can do in business.