Clegg's plan for John Lewis economy is 'empty rhetoric' The Institute of Directors (IoD) said shared ownership is "an issue for companies, not Governments." Graeme Leach, the IoD's chief economist and director of policy, added that the Coalition's increase in capital gains tax to 28pc for higher earners in 2010 - the Liberal Democrats had pushed for an increase to 40pc - "clearly didn't help" ownership schemes in terms of workers' ability to cash in on a company's success. In a speech delivered in the City on Monday, Mr Clegg said staff should be given the right to shares in the company that employs them, citing John Lewis as an example, and added that businesses could be given tax incentives to adopt shared-ownership. Peter Stocks, chief executive of employee-owned consultancy Baxi Partnership, welcomed the speech: "Giving employees a stake and a say in their own businesses changes the way [they] feel about coming to work in the morning." However, Chuka Umunna, shadow business secretary, accused the Government of engaging in "empty rhetoric" and said the Coalition should focus instead on moves to control executive pay, such as putting employees on remuneration committees. "With the bank bonus season under way it is time for the Government to start to deliver on these issues," he said.