Rejected petition: Amend the National Security and Investment Act to protect UK soft power exports
Rejected on
In light of the takeover of the aviation company Easyjet and the mainstream media entity ITV from American conglomerates, I request that the Government amend the National Security and Investment Act to protect our soft power exports and expand this Act to cover broadly National Infrastructure.
Over the last decade, foreign acquisitions of British-based companies have accelerated, reaching a 26-year high this March. Bought companies vary significantly from microelectronics (ARM Holdings, 2016), mass media (Sky, 2018), beverages (SABMiller, 2016), security (G4S, 2021), groceries (Morrisons, 2021), and AI (DeepMind, 2015). The sheer variety of industries, including National Security, demonstrates weakness and allows foreign companies to acquire emergent or established British companies.
Why was this petition rejected?
It’s not clear what the petition is asking the UK Government or Parliament to do.
Petitions need to call the UK Government or Parliament to carry out a clear action.
It is not clear exactly what changes you would like the UK Government or Parliament to make to the National Security and Investment Act 2021 to protect UK soft power exports, as well as what "soft power exports" you are referring to.
In addition, transport, communications and artificial intelligence are already covered in the National Security and Investment Act 2021.
We only reject petitions that don’t meet the petition standards.