Private Equity (Transfer of Undertakings and Protection of Employment) Bill

I certainly am, but the hon. Gentleman will have to be slightly more patient. It is important that we examine the sources of the funding raised for private equity. Last year, members of the British Venture Capital Association raised independent funds for investment totalling more than £34 billion, a rise of 26 per cent. on the previous year's figure. A greater proportion than previously came from UK sources, which now account for 28 per cent. of the total raised. An awful lot of the money invested is British. As I said earlier, pension funds continue to be the most active private equity investors. They provided almost £10 billion of investment last year—29 per cent. of the total. The hon. Member for Nottingham, East has tabled the Bill with the noble purpose of protecting workers' rights, but many of the workers whom he seeks to protect have their pensions tied up in funds that invest in the private equity industry. It is therefore as crucial to them as to anyone else that we do not introduce legislation that damages their funds. Although overseas investors remain by far the richest source of UK private equity investment capital, more UK institutional and private investors are committing to it, because it is a hugely successful asset class. The UK private equity market is the largest and most developed in Europe, accounting for well over half of European investment. It is second in the world to the United States, whose economy is very successful, as we all know.