Keith Vaz tables games sales control EDM

Eleven MPs have signed a new Early Day Motion tabled by Labour MP Keith Vaz which calls for ‘carefully controlled’ video games sales to those under 18, and encouragement for parents to limit the time which children spend using video games.

The Commons petition “welcomes the call by Shigero Miyamoto, creator of Super Mario, for people to drop their joypads and venture out into the sunlight once in a while”, and was tabled last Friday, May 13th. It has collected 11 cross-party signatures since then.

Eight of those signatures are from Labour MPs, with single signatories from the Liberal Democrats, the Conservatives and the DUP also lending their names to the list.

Those signatories have all essentially agreed that “video games have addictive properties”, and that they should be combined with a variety of extra-curricular activities to ensure that “children flourish”.

The motion also “notes the current Hungarian EU Presidency priority of protecting minors from harmful audiovisual media content in media legislation.”

The motion itself will be of limited legislative consequence. By definition, an Early Day Motion will have no debate in parliament. Keith Vaz’ campaign for tighter video games regulation is unlikely, however, to lose steam any time soon.