Conservatives Struggle to Outline Games Industry Support
Shadow Culture Secretary only hints at UK Film Council expansion.
Shadow Culture Secretary for the Conservatives, Jeremy Hunt, has stated his party's stance on the games industry and digital culture. Although various elements of tax exemption policies were discussed, Hunt was keen to avoid outlining any solid plans.
Despite earlier claims from fellow MP Ed Vaizey to introduce tax breaks for UK developers in the first budget of a Conservative government, it was noted that the party's 131-page manifesto did not include such a promise. Hunt clarified the situation by saying; "Our manifesto was not a list of every single thing we would do in government. As we have said before we think there’s a strong case for the introduction of a tax credit for the video games industry and, like Labour, will look at doing so."
A system similar to the UK Film Council - which allows tax breaks for domestic filmmakers provided they follow a list of 'Britishness' guidelines - was mentioned in the current Labour government's Budget, and also touted by Vaizey last week. Hunt elaborated on this by saying that, rather than create a "new quango" to satisfy games developers specifically that an expansion of the UK Film Council's role to include games was possible.
Mention was also made of the Digital Economy Bill - which you might remember was hastily passed through the House of Commons despite the circus of Labour members fighting each other, Conservatives appearing disinterested and Liberal Democrats arguing against it outright. When asked if the Bill was passed too soon, Hunt responded; "The [PEGI single-age rating] legislation should be enough but we’ll have to wait and see.
"I really hope that the measures in the Digital Economy Act designed to tackle online piracy work," Hunt continued. "In particular I want to see the initial obligations, things like letter writing, given a chance. We have said that we reserve the right to come back to these provisions if they don’t work or treat consumers unfairly but I think we have to wait and see how things bed down before we rush to any decisions."
The rest of the interview - focusing nicely more on what Labour hasn't done rather than what the Tories will be doing - can be found here.
Despite earlier claims from fellow MP Ed Vaizey to introduce tax breaks for UK developers in the first budget of a Conservative government, it was noted that the party's 131-page manifesto did not include such a promise. Hunt clarified the situation by saying; "Our manifesto was not a list of every single thing we would do in government. As we have said before we think there’s a strong case for the introduction of a tax credit for the video games industry and, like Labour, will look at doing so."
A system similar to the UK Film Council - which allows tax breaks for domestic filmmakers provided they follow a list of 'Britishness' guidelines - was mentioned in the current Labour government's Budget, and also touted by Vaizey last week. Hunt elaborated on this by saying that, rather than create a "new quango" to satisfy games developers specifically that an expansion of the UK Film Council's role to include games was possible.
Mention was also made of the Digital Economy Bill - which you might remember was hastily passed through the House of Commons despite the circus of Labour members fighting each other, Conservatives appearing disinterested and Liberal Democrats arguing against it outright. When asked if the Bill was passed too soon, Hunt responded; "The [PEGI single-age rating] legislation should be enough but we’ll have to wait and see.
"I really hope that the measures in the Digital Economy Act designed to tackle online piracy work," Hunt continued. "In particular I want to see the initial obligations, things like letter writing, given a chance. We have said that we reserve the right to come back to these provisions if they don’t work or treat consumers unfairly but I think we have to wait and see how things bed down before we rush to any decisions."
The rest of the interview - focusing nicely more on what Labour hasn't done rather than what the Tories will be doing - can be found here.