Furious Microsoft boss slams UK takeover freeze: 'EU is better for business'

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Microsoft has attacked the UK competition watchdog for blocking the company's takeover of games company Activision Blizzard, saying it shows that the European Union is now a better place to do business than Britain.

Brad Smith, vice-chairman and chairman of the company, said it was a "bad day for Britain" after the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) had blocked the $68.7bn (£55bn) takeover by the US tech company. The creator of Call Of Duty, fearing the merger would lead to less innovation and less choice for players.

Describing the decision as "probably the darkest day" in 40 years of Microsoft UK story, Mr Smith launched a scathing attack on the regulator and said the decision would "shake confidence in the UK business community".

He told BBC Radio 4: "I've already heard from a lot of people around the world.

"People are shocked, people are disappointed and people's confidence is people in tech in the UK has been badly shaken."

He added: "For all of us who had some hope that after Brexit the UK would build a structure that would be even more flexible, which would be better for the investment, better for the technology, we now find that the opposite seems to be true.

Mr. Smith urged the PM to 'look carefully at the role of the CMA' and consider the 'message the UK has just sent to the world' in thwarting the deal.

He added "I don't think people will want to start a business in one country and then have regulators stopping them from selling it to another business if the day comes.

" There is a clear message here. The European Union is a more attractive place to start a business if you ever want to sell it than the UK."

Mr Smith added that "the English Channel has never seemed wider - threatening the Prime Minister and Chancellor Jeremy Hunt's plans to turn post-Brexit Britain into a thriving hub for tech companies.

"It worries people and leaves them thinking that in fact, the process in Brussels worked out much better than what we are now addressing in London,” he said.

Mr. Sunak has already talked about ab...