It is a truth universally acknowledged...

... that a socialist in possession of a good tax break, must eventually screw it up.

The Department for Culture, Media and Sport has today unveiled a "cultural test" for British films for producers hoping to benefit from a new tax break scheme introduced by chancellor Gordon Brown.

To qualify as British, and be eligible for tax breaks, film projects must score enough points across three categories: cultural hubs; cultural practitioners; and cultural content.

"Cultural hubs" determines whether the production and filming will take place in the UK; to qualify in the "cultural practitioners" category, a project will have to show that its cast, crew and/or producers come from within the European Economic Area; and "cultural content" looks at whether the film is set in the UK and has British characters.

As long as the British film makers stick to making those terribly posh period dramas or "Mr Bean 2" there shouldn't be a problem. If a talented British film maker decided to film big budget remakes of all six Star Wars movies (surely someone out there can do a better job than Lucas?)... well, I guess they can always try Hollywood or New Zealand.

Socialists really don't get the point of tax breaks. As a result, they manage to push away multi-million pound investment opportunities before they even reach the table.

Filed under: Politics, New Labour Spin