Keith Vaz spoke out about the violent videogame Modern Warfare 2 falling into the hands of innocent children since it contains such violence that even the publisher has had to put in game warnings in.

The response to our now best friend was “The clearest recommendation of the Byron Review is that content suitable for adults should be labelled as such and sold as such, that it should be an offence to sell such content to children,”

“That’s the case under current law, it will be the case with the law when it changes under the Digital Economy Bill. This game the honourable gentleman refers to is a certificate 18 game, it should not be sold to children and the government’s job is to make sure that adults, clearly labelled, can get what adults should be able to, and that children are not in danger of being subjected to adult content. ”

Tom Watson, who is labour even went on to say that he had seen the scene himself and felt that it was no worse than what has been seen on film or read in books before of a similar rating.  Mr Watson even went so far as to tell Vaz to stop collaberating with the Daily Mail to create a moral panic over the use of videogames and to instead support the gaming industry in what it is achieving.

The entire knock down is here in the full transcript:-

Keith Vaz, Labour, Leicester East (in response to an answer from Sion Simon on the Byron Review – “What steps have been taken to implement the review on Safer Children in a digital world?”)

“Is the Minister aware that at midnight tonight a new and violent videogame called Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 is to be released. It contains such scenes of brutality that even the manufacturers have put in warnings within the game telling people how they can skip particular scenes.

“Given the recommendations of the Byron Review, specifically paragraphs 32 and 33, what steps is the government proposing to take in order to ensure these violent games do not fall into the hands of children and young people. It’s not about censorship, it’s about protecting our children.”

Sion Simon, Culture, Media and Sport Minister

The clearest recommendation of the Byron Review is that content suitable for adults should be labelled as such and sold as such, that it should be an offense to sell such content to children. That’s the case under current law, it will be the case with the law when it changes under the Digital Economy Bill. This game the hon. gentleman refers to is a certificate 18 game, it should not be sold to children and the government’s job is to make sure that adults, clearly labelled, can get what adults should be able to, and that children are not in danger of being subjected to adult content.

Tom Watson, Labour, West Bromwich East

“I’ve seen the content in this videogame, it is unpleasant, though no worse than in many films and books, it is an 18-plus game and carries the BBFC 18-plus rating as well.

“Does the Minister agree that it would be better for this House to support the many thousands of games designers and coders and the many millions of games users, rather than collaborating with the Daily Mail to create moral panic over the use of videogames?”

Sion Simon, Culture, Media and Sport Minister

“I was in Dundee last week visiting the videogames industry. I can certainly agree with him that videogames is an industry, a very large, very important industry in which we have a national competitive advantage in this country, which it’s important that all members of this House, and the government, continue to support.

So, a new found respect is coming to the Government from our side now.  Just a witch hunt against Keith Vaz and any tabloid trashy newspaper that  wants to keep reporting on such stupidity.  Gaming industry about 10 – Vaz and his purile minions 0.

Related posts:

1. Modern Warfare 2 comes under media fire

He announced that the Conservatives will:

Look at extending the remit of the Film Council to cover the video games sector to give video games the national voice they need and deserve.

Recognise that high technology companies in the UK face specific challenges when it comes to raising finance and attracting venture capital.

Give the sector the support it needs to succeed and expand in the global economy.

Stimulate investment in superfast broadband, vital to the future growth of the sector, through the telecoms regulatory structure.

Ed Vaizey said: “NESTA’s research suggests the UK video games sector could shrink by 16.5 per cent over five years, resulting in the loss of more than £180m in external investment and nearly 1,700 jobs. As in so many other areas, Labour ministers simply do not seem to care that we are falling behind our competitors in a critically important economic growth area.

“Gordon Brown’s economic mismanagement means the UK government simply has not had the fiscal headroom to offer the kind of support that has been available in some other countries. But just because they cannot offer tax breaks, does not excuse them actively doing down the industry.

“I would love nothing more than to work with you to facilitate the investment and risk-taking the industry needs. We are campaigning at a time when Britain is broke, but this creates an opportunity to shape policies that assist the high tech entrepreneurs that will drive our economy in the future. The video games sector must play a key part in this.”

Looks like the Conservatives are definitely out to bag a few votes by keeping the game industry in Britain sweet and kept in the country.

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