Britain’s demand that Kuwait cut its stake...

Britain’s demand that Kuwait cut its stake in British Petroleum PLC to 9.9% from 22% has drawn fire from critics who fear that it might discourage foreign investment in the depressed London stock market. The government says it acted to defend the free market against the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, to which Kuwait belongs. Representatives of big British brokerages charged that the action departs from Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher’s commitment to letting the market alone.