Britain has long prided itself on being one of the most open countries in the world to foreign investment and has, to coin a phrase, prospered mightily as a result. But in an increasingly unstable world, it has also become clear in recent years that this openness brings risks. The government’s long-awaited National Security and Investment Bill, which was published yesterday and which will give the government sweeping powers to ban foreign takeovers and investments that threaten national security, is therefore welcome. Used judiciously, it will give the government a weapon to fight back against the malign intentions of Beijing and Moscow. What it must not become is a bureaucratic drag on the country’s economic dynamism or a covert excuse for protectionism.
The bill will