Labour sells Britain short: Wave of foreign takeovers puts the nation on the road to ruin, says ALEX BRUMMER

Space X mania saw British retail investors seek to commit £750million to Elon Musk’s futuristic agenda in a show of confidence in equities. Demand was strong and allocations were reduced sharply.

Yet as the circus unfolded, data issued by the London Stock Exchange highlighted what Peel Hunt chief executive Steven Fine labelled a ‘national disgrace’.

So far this year, there has been an eye-popping assault on UK plc, with foreign buyers spending £128billion on listed companies. That is as much as was spent in the whole of 2025.

The Government may congratulate itself on Britain’s attraction to overseas investors. But this is nothing of the kind.

Private equity barons and foreign competitors are using London exchanges as a bargain basement.

Far from leading to new long-term investment in UK technologies and creativity, most of these offers will end up as takeovers.

Jobs are hollowed out, suppliers damaged, pension funds placed in jeopardy and HMRC corporate tax receipts ransacked.

Recent departures include the historic food additive supplier Tate & Lyle, which agreed to a £2.7billion bid from American rival Ingredion, and FTSE energy supplier DCC, which took a £5.7billion offer from plunderers KKR and Energy Capital Partners.

The undervaluation of UK manufacturing and tech assets was illustrated by Swedish buyout group EQT’s bid for global testing group Intertek, where the premium to the pre-deal share price was 69 per cent.

Another private equity outfit, Castlelake, is running the slide rule over pioneering no-frills European carrier EasyJet. Comcast-controlled Sky is negotiating for control of ITV (less its studios).

In the week of Royal Ascot, part of Britain’s summer season, it is worth reflecting that, despite the role of UK bookies as innovators in online sports betting, intellectual property is being sucked out of this green and pleasant land.

William Hill owner Evoke has agreed to a takeover by Greece-based Bally’s Intralot, and Flutter, owner of Paddy Power and other brands, has moved its primary listing to the New York Stock Exchange.

Firms such as insurance underwriter Beazley and blue-blooded fund manager Schroders sit at the heart of the City, which accounts for 10pc of national output. They have been sold with barely a squawk from government and regulators.

Business Secretary Peter Kyle is promising a look. Even if he survives in office, beyond a Downing Street shake-up, there are real questions as to how aggressive his department will be.

Last week a historian friend in the US sent me an excoriating essay published by The Atlantic magazine that described Britain as poorer than Mississippi, the most impoverished state.

Much of it was profoundly wrong. Nevertheless, the great UK sell-off will put the nation on the road to ruin.

Andrew Bailey has taken to The Times to defend the Bank of England’s policy of selling down holdings of gilt-edged stock.

Much of it was bought after the great financial crisis and Covid-19 to stop scarring to the economy.

Bailey’s intervention was unusual ahead of this week’s interest rate decision, a time when the Bank likes to keep schtum.

The governor has been taking flak from Reform and the Greens over losses taken on gilt holdings and the easy ride the commercial banks receive when they leave deposits with the Old Lady overnight.

Bailey points out that all the Bank is doing is reversing the £124billion of income transfer to the Government between 2013 and 2022.

The Bank’s approach shows British exceptionalism in that the Fed and other G7 central banks are choosing to hold government bonds to maturity rather than sell them.

Nevertheless, Bailey makes a valid point. Returning gilts to the market creates monetary space for offering liquidity assistance if and when the next crisis comes along.

Bailey also has been a loud voice fearing the potential impact of the all-powerful Anthropic AI tool, Claude Mythos, should it fall into the wrong hands.

The White House appears to have reached the same conclusion by restricting access to Mythos for foreign nationals. Sharing it with financial regulators should be treated differently.