A number of trade groups and high-profile companies have urged the Government not to block foreign take-overs or prop up failing firms.

They were responding to a request from the House of Commons Business, Enterprise and Strategy Committee, asking for comments on how best to come up with a coherent blueprint for British industry.

The recently released Committee report says that those who submitted evidence raised a wide range of concerns, including the skills shortage, uncertainty about the impact of the decision to leave the EU, and the need to strengthen growth outside London and the South East.

Among the most common concerns was that a Government-led industrial strategy could result in the state meddling where it is not wanted or lacks competence.

One submission to the committee was: “A strategy that props up uncompetitive industries in the long-term is unsustainable, bad for the economy, and doomed to failure.”

Meanwhile, both the submission from the Royal Academy of Engineering (RAE) and the Institute of Directors warned the Government that it should not expand its powers to block foreign take-overs.

This was echoed by aerospace giant Rolls-Royce, which said: “A closed approach to foreign take-overs will generally deter investment, unless the criteria that would trigger intervention are clear and consistent.”

The RAE went on to say that the Government should instead focus on ensuring that British ideas and innovation are commercialised here in the UK, rather than being developed abroad.

The submission from Heathrow Airport, along with one by the technology group Samsung, said that the Government should not back one company at the expense of another.

Heathrow said: “There is a danger that an industrial strategy which intervenes to pick ‘winners’ that are not the market’s choice could be damaging for the UK and lead to a number of unintended consequences.”