Guy Opperman
Main Page: Guy Opperman (Conservative - Hexham)AstraZeneca (Pfizer Bid)
Guy Opperman ExcerptsUrgent Questions are proposed each morning by backbench MPs, and up to two may be selected each day by the Speaker. Chosen Urgent Questions are announced 30 minutes before Parliament sits each day.
Each Urgent Question requires a Government Minister to give a response on the debate topic.
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Vince Cable
Of course there is a role for Government, which is why my colleagues and I have been talking to the two companies and why we are trying to obtain the strongest possible commitment to the UK science base.
Guy Opperman (Hexham) (Con)
Many might think that this is a difficult blue pill to swallow from Pfizer, but two of the biggest companies in Northumberland are overseas-owned and brilliantly run. Does the Secretary of State agree that we do not want to go back to the dark ages of protectionism? The reality is that if this were a British company taking over an overseas company, none of us would be complaining.
Vince Cable
I am sure that is right. As a country, we have made great advances in taking a mature approach to foreign ownership, and a key turning point was when I was an adviser in my Department—I do not claim cause and effect—in the late 1970s and the issue of Japanese investment first arose. The Government of the time decided it was in the national interest. It broke a taboo, and foreign investment has been of great benefit to this country.