HC Deb 22 November 1949 vol 470 cc201-3
64. Mr. Geoffrey Cooper

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer on what grounds he absolved from the payment of Entertainments Duty an American play entitled "A Streetcar Named Desire," now playing at the Aldwych Theatre.

65. Mr. Marlowe

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer upon what grounds a play called "A Streetcar Named Desire," now being performed in London, was exempted from Entertainments Duty; and what persons or bodies were consulted before the exemption was granted.

Sir S. Cripps

This production is exempt from Entertainments Duty under the provisions of Section 8 of the Finance Act, 1946, because the Commissioners of Customs and Excise are satisfied that it is provided by a body which is not conducted or established for profit and whose aims, objects and activities are partly educational There was no occasion for consulting any other person or body.

Mr. Marlowe

Is the Chancellor aware that a vast body of opinion does not share his view that this play is in any way educational; and will he review the test by which exemption is granted, in view of the fact that, as a large number of people who perform in and produce this play are drawing hundreds of pounds a week out of it it is ridiculous to call it non-profit making?

Sir S. Cripps

No, Sir. I have never suggested that in my view, or the view of anyone else, this play is educational. That is not the issue which Parliament arranged should be applied to such cases in the Finance Bill, 1946.

Mr. Cooper

Can the Chancellor say what is the procedure by which judgment is passed on the suitability, artistic merits, and so forth, of a play of this sort; do H. M. Tennents have any say whatever in this matter; and can he explain why a non-profit making amateur dramatic society in Middlesbrough is being threatened by his officials with Entertainment Duty on its performances which would not otherwise be presented, while a commercial play of a rather unsavoury nature like this is exempt?

Sir S. Cripps

If the hon. Gentleman will put that question on the Order Paper I will answer it.

Mr. Peter Thorneycroft

Would the Chancellor at least give an undertaking to look into the situation which is created to see whether he can possibly justify a case where we are paying dollars for this play and exempting it from tax, when other much worthier plays are mulcted in heavy sums?

Sir S. Cripps

No, Sir. I am satisfied that the test which Parliament laid down is a proper one. That is, not that the Treasury should be made a censor of plays, but that it should examine the qualities of the company which produces the plays, and, if it falls within the definition Parliament has made, whatever play it may produce is exempted from tax.

Mrs. Leah Manning

Does that answer mean that because the company is educational, and is supposed to have high standards of taste, it can put on any kind of play it likes, however low and however repugnant to the general taste in this country?

Sir S. Cripps

That is certainly not a matter which, in my view, should be dealt with by taxation.

Mr. Wilson Harris

Can the Chancellor say what happens to the profits which have obviously been made by this particular play, which I believe is booked up till next February?

Sir S. Cripps

If the hon. Gentleman will put that question on the Order Paper I will answer it.

Mr. Marlowe

Does not the Chancellor realise that what in effect happens is that vast profits are taken and merely put away and not distributed, but used later on; that, merely because the producing company does not make a profit, it does not prevent a vast number of other people making a very considerable profit; and will he review the matter in the light of that?

Sir S. Cripps

If by "profit" the hon. and learned Gentleman means receiving a salary, that is not the point. The company which produces this cannot be a profit-making company. If it should become such a thing it would cease to qualify for exemption.

Mr. Wyatt

Even though there may be some abuse of this system, is it not the case that, on balance, it produces a good result in enabling the production of plays of a worth-while character, which would otherwise not be produced; and will my right hon. and learned Friend resist any attempt of censorship of plays by Treasury officials?

Sir S. Cripps

Certainly.

Mr. Cooper

May I gather from the answers which my right hon. and learned Friend has given, that this non-profit making society in Middlesbrough would be exempted from Entertainments Duty?

Sir S. Cripps

I suggested that my hon. Friend should put down a question on the Order Paper.