Labour cabinet reshuffle sees Harman take DCMS role
TIGA applauds changes which see Deputy Leader take responsibility for games, Tom Watson promoted to deputy chair
Harriet Harman, Labour's deputy leader, has become the shadow minister for the Department of Culture, Media and Sport, in opposition to Ed Vaizey.
Tom Watson, a vocal supporter of gaming and the games industry, has been promoted to deputy party chair and campaign co-ordinator, largely as a result of his prominent role in the News International phone hacking scandal.
Promising Labour Party hopeful Chuka Umunna takes responsibility for the shadow brief of Business, Innovation and Skills, another role with potential influence on the games industry.
"Labour's Shadow Cabinet reshuffle is good for the video games industry," TIGA CEO Richard Wilson told GamesIndustry.biz.
"Harriet Harman is a big hitter and immensely experienced. As Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport she will certainly hold the Government front bench team to account."
"The appointment of Chukka Umunna MP to the position of Shadow Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills is positive. He is a rising star in the Labour Party.
Wilson also reserved special praise for Tom Watson, who was instrumental in the founding of consumer body Gamers' Voice, as well as lending consistent support to TIGA's tax relief lobbying.
"The appointment of Tom Watson MP to the position of Labour Party Deputy Chair and Campaign Coordinator is excellent news and is very well deserved. Tom is an enthusiastic supporter of the video games industry and a strong advocate of Games Tax Relief and other measures to help the sector. It is great to have Tom in a position where he can champion the industry in senior political circles."
This is the first Labour reshuffle which has given the party leader a free hand in selecting minsters and secretaries of state directly, following a party vote to remove the electoral stage of the process earlier this year.
Thank you for the party political broadcast.
Harriet Harman is an interfering busy body who will be more interested in banning images of sexy women in games than in promoting our industry. She is on a mission to promote 'equality' which means pushing her own femanist agenda without regard for the damage it does to our economy or our industry.
Labour are more interested in demonising the financial sector than helping us make games. They want to tax financial institutions and make us dependent on handouts. That is the opposite of what we need.
We are an industry, not an art. We need a friendly business climate, not tax handouts.
Just compare Silicon Valley, where venture capitialists invest in game startups to the UK, where Labour want to increase their corporation tax, income tax and call them predators. Venture Capital is 'casino banking' but you cannot have a successful technology industry without it. Is it any wonder that Electronic Arts, Facebook, Zynga, Playdom, Apple, Google etc. are all based in the San Francisco bay area and we don't have any publishers left?
Posted:A year ago