Star Wars: George Osborne criticised after being given The Force Awakens credit

The Chancellor committed £25m of public money to the film but it is unusual for ministers to be thanked by name in film credits 

Matt Dathan
Online political reporter
Friday 18 December 2015 12:37 GMT
Comments
Osborne is cutting public borrowing, or rate the Government borrows money, but shifting debt onto the private sector
Osborne is cutting public borrowing, or rate the Government borrows money, but shifting debt onto the private sector

George Osborne has been given a credit in the latest Star Wars film - The Force Awakens.

Viewers posted screenshots of the film credits on Twitter, which states: "George Osborne, Chancellor of the Exchequer and First Secretary of State, United Kingdom".

Ed Vaizey, the minister for culture and the digitial economy, is also thanked in the credits.

Mr Osborne committed £25m of taxpayers money to support to the film and while the Government is often credited in films, it is an unusual step for the name of a minister to be named and Star Wars fans reacted angrily on social media.

Mr Osborne, a keen Star Wars fan whose favourite character is Han Solo, was reportedly booed when he turned up to the premiere.

It was also claimed that the Star Wars PR team had proposed the idea of stormtroopers being stationed outside Downing Street for a photo-shoot, but Mr Osborne refused because it "would make us look like fascists".

A Downing Street source said they hadn't heard of the idea but signalled there had been many proposals for photo-shoots by "movie PRs" who have "big ideas" .

Instead, all the PR team got was the Chancellor stood outside his front door making really bad Star Wars jokes.

“It’s a great day for film-making in this country and it clearly shows the force is with us,” he said. “It’s a boost for our culture and our film industry.”

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in