Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade, how the government protects home-grown technological start-ups from predatory foreign buyouts.

The Digital and Technologies sector plan, part of our Modern Industrial Strategy, aims to make the UK a leading place to start and scale technology businesses. Our Entrepreneurship Prospectus sets out further reforms, alongside mobilising private investment via our Public Financial Institutions.

The UK welcomes foreign investment, helping British businesses grow, innovate and access international markets. Government can act where acquisitions raise national security concerns under the National Security and Investment Act 2021, and on specified public interest grounds under the Enterprise Act 2002. The independent Competition and Markets Authority is responsible for investigating mergers and acquisitions on competition grounds.