Dear Shareholder,
You have asked me to explain my outburst of a few days ago, when I threw down my copy of the Financial Times and declared, to no one in particular: “Why don’t some of these shareholders just shut up?!” I am now writing to provide some detail of my deliberations prior to making that outburst.

We have been told in recent days that the proposed changes in the Marks and Spencer boardroom are “in breach” of the UK’s combined code on corporate governance.