Shadow Foreign Office Minister for Asia and the Pacific, Stephen Kinnock MP, today led a wide-ranging Industry Forum panel discussion on ‘The implications of the new National Security and Investment Bill’. The other speakers were David Offenbach, Legal Consultant at Simons Muirhead & Burton, LLP; Creon Butler, Director of the Global Economy and Finance Programme, Chatham House; Giles Warrington, Partner, Pinsent Masons LLP, and Janet Williamson, Senior Policy Officer in the TUC’s Economic and Social affairs Department. The aim of the bill is to protect UK national security while ensuring that the country remains a global champion of free trade, and an attractive place to invest. In providing the government with the means to scrutinise and intervene in foreign takeovers, it brings the UK into line with other developed countries. Much is left to the discretion of ministers and therefore time will tell how it meets its objectives, fits into an overall industrial strategy, and serves to protect the interests of British workers.
Speakers included:
Stephen Kinnock MP, Shadow Minister for Asia and the Pacific
David Offenbach, Consultant, Simons Muirhead & Burton LLP
Creon Butler, Director, Global Economy and Finance Programme, Chatham House
Giles Warrington, Partner, Pinsent Masons LLP
Janet Williamson, Senior Policy Officer, Trades Union Congress