§ Vera BairdTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if the Government will introduce legislation that will enable the Government to ban investment in countries where investment will have a negative impact and is contrary to British Government advice. [179229]
§ Mr. MacShaneInvestment usually has a positive, not a negative, impact. It is essential for sustainable economic development. In some exceptional circumstances, the Government have considered it 1071W appropriate not to encourage investment on the grounds that investment is not appropriate so long as the regime in question continues to suppress the basic rights of its people. In certain cases, British companies have disinvested at the request of the British Government. The Government have no plans however to introduce legislation in these cases. Any such legislation would in any event have to be compatible with the prohibitions on restrictions on the free movement of capital in the EC Treaty.