A small tax to ease the burden

Sir, – Certain economic commentators stress improving productivity as the vital element in securing growth and prosperity for us all, and suggest that the UK economy lags behind that of other leading nations because the average UK worker is not up to the task.

At least these muchmaligned people do produce goods for general use, unlike those in the city of London who make fortunes for already-wealthy investment groups by manipulating movement of stocks and shares in what can only be described as the paper or digital economy.

To understand how much wealth is involved in this non-productive activity, it is necessary to look at a recent report pointing out the benefits of imposing a financial transaction tax of a mere 0.05% on all stock exchange dealings.

It was estimated that this financial transaction tax could raise a staggering £250 billion a year globally, and some £20 billion in the UK itself.

By way of comparison it took National Lottery players 20 years to contribute £39bn to good causes.

Theresa May has boasted about being fair to us all, and an additional £20bn a year from the non-productive digital manipulators would go a long way to solving our serious social problems without hurting those whose accumulated wealth to date would see them comfortably through the next 100 years.

Allan A. Macdougall. 37 Forth Park, Bridge of Allan.