Contributions
1,851 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARDNational Security and Investment Bill (Sixth sitting)My hon. Friend is setting out the case very well. To add to that argument, this is also about reassuring us as Members of Parliament. A Bill is all very well—it puts it all down…01 Dec 2020HANSARDNational Security and Investment Bill (Fifth sitting)Could the Minister say a little more about what the problem is with not having the Minister’s or the Secretary of State’s hands tied? Our amendment simply says that if information…01 Dec 2020HANSARDNational Security and Investment Bill (Fifth sitting)Indeed we are. My hon. Friend is absolutely right. I reiterate that what we propose is, through consultation, removing bottlenecks—the key word in the intervention from hon.…01 Dec 2020HANSARDNational Security and Investment Bill (Fifth sitting)Thank you, Mr Twigg. As I was saying, not wishing to second-guess the scepticism that I may be picking up from Government Members, one reason I support the amendment is that I…01 Dec 2020HANSARDNational Security and Investment Bill (Fifth sitting)My hon. Friend is being incredibly generous. Not wishing to second-guess some of the scepticism that we may be picking up from the Government Benches— [ Interruption. ]01 Dec 2020HANSARDNational Security and Investment Bill (Sixth sitting)I thank the Minister, but I am afraid that we will have to push the amendment to a Division, because it is so fundamental to how we see the purpose of the Bill. We have heard lots…01 Dec 2020HANSARDNational Security and Investment Bill (Sixth sitting)I thank my hon. Friend. This is genuinely not an attempt to make a party political point. There is no doubt that we should have seen the impact of the rise of China long before…01 Dec 2020HANSARDNational Security and Investment Bill (Sixth sitting)I beg to move amendment 6, in clause 6, page 4, line 27, at end insert— ‘(4A) The Secretary of State must have regard to the protection of critical national infrastructure when…01 Dec 2020HANSARDNational Security and Investment Bill (Fifth sitting)As my hon. Friend rightly says, the fundamental purpose of our amendment is to ensure that the screening process takes place upstream so that the multi-agency and highly technical…01 Dec 2020HANSARDNational Security and Investment Bill (Fifth sitting)There are plenty of examples of Select Committees getting involved in the upstream work of Government—for example, giving feedback on White Papers. Parliament and its Select…01 Dec 2020HANSARDNational Security and Investment Bill (Sixth sitting)I thank my hon. Friend. His intervention is telling because it points to a fundamental failing at the heart of Government in terms of being joined up and credible. We cannot…01 Dec 2020HANSARDNational Security and Investment Bill (Sixth sitting)Just to add to the argument that my hon. Friend is making in her very eloquent manner, this is also about having a smart approach to regulation, whereby we do not take a…01 Dec 2020HANSARDNational Security and Investment Bill (Fourth sitting)Q Could you just say a word about comparable jurisdictions, such as the United States, where their CFIUS law brings into play the extent to which the acquirer has a history of…26 Nov 2020HANSARDNational Security and Investment Bill (Third sitting)Q I want to explore a bit further the issue of critical national infrastructure, which is defined by the Intelligence and Security Committee as the Government’s 13 sectors ranging…26 Nov 2020HANSARDNational Security and Investment Bill (Third sitting)Q This is very interesting evidence. I want to ask you a little bit more about China. As you rightly pointed out, much of this is in the public domain, and the Made in China 2025…26 Nov 2020HANSARDNational Security and Investment Bill (Fourth sitting)Thanks very much. Do I have time for one more?26 Nov 2020HANSARDNational Security and Investment Bill (Fourth sitting)Q Thank you very much for the very interesting evidence that you are providing. I want to focus on the acquirer risk element of the Bill. The statement of political intent states…26 Nov 2020HANSARDNational Security and Investment Bill (Third sitting)Q Given what you just said about the nature of the threat, how should that inform the composition of the investment security unit, which is going to be placed in BEIS and will be…26 Nov 2020HANSARDNational Security and Investment Bill (Fourth sitting)Q Thank you very much indeed for your useful and interesting evidence. I want to ask about some tangible examples, just to get a sense of where you stand on this spectrum—in this…26 Nov 2020HANSARDNational Security and Investment Bill (Fourth sitting)Q What about AstraZeneca and Pfizer, which, of course, did not go through, mainly because of the political debate that raged around it? James Palmer: Partly. I was involved in…26 Nov 2020