China, the EU and British sovereignty

Sir, The contrast between the passionate opposition of many Conservatives to compromising British sovereignty by working within the EU, and their acceptance of the UK compromising its sovereignty by inviting Chinese state companies to invest in the UK’s critical national infrastructure, is remarkable.

It is no longer possible to maintain total sovereignty within a globalised economy, particularly given the UK’s full deregulation of free inward flows of international investment and capital, including takeovers of UK companies and banks and purchases of land and property. It seems more reasonable, however, to share sovereignty and the negotiation of international regulations with our democratic European neighbours than with distant authoritarian states.

To diminish British sovereignty by allowing state-owned companies from authoritarian states (Arab Gulf states as well as China) to invest in key sectors of our national economy when we have much more limited access to theirs is against British interests, as well as against British values.