House of Lords to debate the fate of the UK Film Council, as Oscar glory beckons for The King's Speech

25 February 2011

The work of the UK Film Council, which helped finance the critically acclaimed The King's Speech, will come to a stuttering halt, unless the House of Lords intervenes next week.

Unite, the largest union in the country, is arranging for its UK Film Council reps to brief peers on Monday (28 February) on the vital work that the council does to support the respected British film industry – the day after the Oscars which look certain to garner awards for The King's Speech.

There are two amendments to the Public Bodies (Reform) Bill – the legislation to abolish nearly 200 quangos, including the UK Film Council – which is currently going through the House of Lords and expected to be debated on Monday.

The two amendments are - to stop the abolition of the council and the other is to merge it with the British Film Institute.

Unite National Officer, Rachael Maskell said: 'There are already plans to transfer the work of non-departmental public bodies (quangos) elsewhere in Whitehall before Parliament has the opportunity to scrutinise its decisions and the bill is passed.'

Rachael Maskell said it was richly ironical that the commercially successful The King's Speech had already won seven BAFTA awards - but would not have been made without £1 million of funding from the UK Film Council.

'If Colin Firth wins the Oscar for Best Actor, we will, no doubt, have David Cameron saying how wonderful it all is – at the same time as his government is dismantling the very body that made the film possible. The well-oiled hypocrisy would be worthy of a film in its own right!'

The King's Speech is the highest grossing British independent film of all time with £38 million at the UK box office to date and counting.

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