British Films - what a Carry On
One of the problems with this Government is its sheer incompetence. It’s a difficult theme to campaign on - “look, we’d simply be better at the job” - but it’s true. Take the on-going saga of tax incentives for British films. Later this afternoon, I will be speaking for the Conservatives when we debate the new definition of a British film. As The Times reports today, the Government have made a real mess of this one. We had a perfectly good tax break, whcih ran unchanged between 1992 and 1997. The the Government changed it - three times. Oh, and had to tighten it up four times to stop it being used for tax avoidance. Then they abolished it and will bring in a new break in January.
As the tax break counts as state aid, Europe insists that there is a definition of what is a “British Film”. The Government put through its test in March, but didn’t bother to check with the European Commission. The Commission promptly called it in and completely changed it. Now, the new test could make it very difficult to make Hollywood films in Britain - at a time when we are competing with Eastern Europe. Even quintessentially British films (such as the Carry On Series) might not get made unless they are “set” in Britain. It’s all a terrible muddle. But it’s not down to the Government being wrong - simply incompetent.