Should the Bank of England stop counting banks' gilt holdings towards the leverage ratio?

The Bank of England is considering changing rules so that banks' holdings of UK government bonds (gilts) are no longer counted towards the leverage ratio, which requires banks to hold capital worth over 3.25% of assets. Barclays says this could encourage banks to buy up to £150 billion more gilts, cut average yields by 0.2 percentage points and save the government over £1 billion a year in borrowing costs. Some former regulators warn the tweak would increase financial risks.