Foreign Direct Investment Debate
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Viscount Hanworth
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Foreign Direct Investment
Viscount Hanworth Excerpts(1 day, 7 hours ago)
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Lord Stockwood (Lab)
Hold that thought.
In the seven months I have been doing this job, the UK has clearly been redefining its position in the world, post Brexit and Covid. I am proud to be part of a Government who are out there doing trade deals, whether with India, the Gulf states or the US—ours is its first deal globally. Undoubtedly, renewed engagement with our closest trading partner, which represents 41% of exports from the UK and high figures for our direct investment, is critical to our long-term success. I would not go as far as the noble Lord suggests, but I agree that we are now in a position to have constructive and equitable conversations with our European partners.
Viscount Hanworth (Lab)
My Lords, the UK has been a premier destination for foreign investment. This has enriched the financial sector, which has mediated the inflows of capital. However, in the process, we have experienced a loss of economic sovereignty. We no longer own our airports, seaports, energy industry, water industry, rolling stock and much else besides. Moreover, the heightened demand for sterling has led to its overvaluation and to the collapse of our export industries. What can the Government do to lessen the detriment of foreign direct investment?
Lord Stockwood (Lab)
We are trying to balance the need for foreign direct investment to ensure that our industrial strategy is fully capitalised. One answer to the question is that we welcome foreign direct investment from partners around the world that are aligned to our strategic intention, but the greater opportunity is to access the reforms made through the Mansion House Accord and Sterling 20 to ensure that our pension capital is utilised in funding and capitalising our industrial strategy. I do not agree with the noble Viscount’s premise that foreign direct investment is inherently bad, but there is a huge opportunity in our pension services and providers to make sure that our pensions reap the benefits of not only the innovation that we are going through but the economic growth.