Conservatives target games in UK

David Cameron, Leader of the Opposition, believes that the producers of video games, movies, and music videos, along with hardware manufacturers and ratings body the British Board of Film Classification, need to be more responsible.

Cameron spoke out against video games and music videos as he delivered the Conservative party's manifesto on law and order in Great Britain in a press conference at Westminster yesterday. He had suggested he would do so before the event.

On the topic of the rise in crime in the UK, Cameron stated that a Conservative government, if elected, would give the police more power by abolishing the need to file forms to question members of the public, and reform current alcohol licensing laws.

During his speech, he referred to popular culture as being one of the things he believes is promoting crime, and leading to a "coarsening effect on the ethical sensibility of young people." He said, "The companies which make music videos, films and computer games have a social responsibility not to promote casual violence, the gang culture, and the degradation of women."

Cameron didn't mention what his intentions were to prevent these kind of references in popular culture, but the report did hint that greater powers would be given to the BBFC. In the report, titled It's Time to Fight Back, it states, "We all have a responsibility to ensure a healthy culture for our children to grow up in. This includes not just the producers of films and video games, but the manufacturers of the relevant hardware, and the regulators who determine age-related classifications.

"A Conservative Government will review the regulatory framework relating to films and video games to ensure that violence and misogyny are not directly promoted to young people."