Enterprise Act 2002 (Amendment of Section 58 Considerations) Order 2025 (SI, 2025, No. 737)

What happened: On 16 July 2025, the House of Commons voted to approve the Enterprise Act 2002 (Amendment of Section 58 Considerations) Order 2025, a statutory instrument (a form of secondary legislation that does not require a full Act of Parliament) modifying the merger and competition considerations under the Enterprise Act 2002. The motion passed by 333 votes to 54.

Why it matters: The Enterprise Act 2002 sets out the framework under which the government can intervene in business mergers on public interest grounds. Section 58 of that Act lists the specific considerations that can justify such intervention. This statutory instrument amends those considerations, updating the legal basis on which ministers can scrutinise or block mergers. The change affects how competition and public interest are assessed in major business transactions, with implications for companies subject to merger review and for the broader investment and regulatory environment in the UK.

The politics: The vote divided largely along government-versus-opposition lines, though with an unusual pattern. All 313 Labour and Labour and Co-operative MPs who voted backed the order, as did small numbers of Reform UK, Green, DUP, and independent members. The Liberal Democrats provided the bulk of the opposition, with 49 of their MPs voting against and forming the majority of the 54 Noes. Only 3 Conservative MPs voted, all against, with the vast majority of the Conservative parliamentary party absent. The Liberal Democrats' opposition rather than the Conservatives' was the defining feature of resistance, making this a relatively uncommon alignment in which the third party led the pushback on a government economic measure.