Vodafone should be forced to spin off its most sensitive activities in order to quash national security concerns raised by a United Arab Emirates-backed telecoms group swooping on its shares, government officials have told the Guardian.
The deputy prime minister, Oliver Dowden, announced on Wednesday that the deal involving Emirates Telecommunications Group building a 14.6% stake in Vodafone presented a “national security risk” to the UK due to Vodafone’s role “as a strategic supplier of services” to government departments, including those “which are in support of national security”.
