Simon Walker, chief executive of trade body The British Private Equity and Venture Capital Association, has launched a stinging attack on the UK Government for hurrying through pensions legislation that he said would kill off takeovers and investment in businesses with defined benefit pension schemes.

Walker wrote an open letter to Mike O’Brien, UK minister for pensions reform, in the Financial Times this morning in which he criticised the government for introducing measures “by the back door that will damage Britain’s competitiveness and further undermine its reputation as an attractive place to do business”.