Should Government Be Given Further Powers To Halt Foreign Takeovers?

By Howard Wheeldon
 
Recent agreed bids by US based Parker Hannifin for Meggitt and the now US owned Cobham for Ultra Electronics have once again fuelled national interest concerns.
Notwithstanding new laws that came into effect in June 2018 in respect foreign takeovers of businesses developing military and dual-use technology, computer hardware and quantum technology, Government policy continues to maintain that the UK’s global reputation of being an ‘open’ trading nation would, quite rightly in my view, be at stake if foreign takeovers of specialist businesses were stopped on national interest grounds.
Whilst national interest concerns are certainly justifiable when specific matters of national defence, security, highly sensitive technologies and software and need to be closely examined,
the larger question is whether Government should be given further powers to halt foreign takeovers than it already has?
 
As already the case in respect of the Cobham, now part of US owned ...