Recommendation 1

The takeover of Newport Wafer Fab by Nexperia represents the sale of one of the UK’s prized assets to a strategic competitor, at a time when global chip shortages means that the products manufactured by NWF are of vital national importance. Failure to conduct a detailed assessment of this transaction under the NSI Act would indicate that the Government continues to hold an unrealistically optimistic understanding of the Chinese government’s intentions and is prioritising short-term commercial interests over the long-term security of our country. The case of NWF may yet serve to demonstrate that, despite the stated intentions of the NSI Bill, the Government has not yet learned the lessons of previous years.