Winchester & Chandler's Ford MP Steve Brine is calling on the Government to change the law on age certification for thousands of DVDs.
Winchester & Chandler's Ford MP Steve Brine is calling on the Government to change the law on age certification for thousands of DVDs.
Current rules, drawn up in the 1980s, do not require an enforceable age rating for sport, music and documentary titles meaning violent, inappropriate and sexual content can quite legally be sold to children regardless of age. Mr Brine is working with colleagues in Parliament to force a change which would require producers to seek a British Board of Film Classification age certificate before their product hits the open market.
He says: "When the current law was passed a sport video was little more than a re-play of the FA Cup Final but these days it can mean extremely violent wrestling or bare knuckle boxing matches where people really get hurt. Music videos can be live footage of extremely violent rock bands sometimes with sado-masochistic or racist content and one documentary I have been made aware of actually teaches viewers how to kill a man SAS style.
"I've seen clips from many of these titles and as a father of two small children if nothing else, they are truly shocking. An attempt was made in the last Parliament to amend the Digital Economy Act to include sport, music and documentaries under the remit of the BBFC but it was resisted by Government. I understand we are knocking at an open door with Ministers so I intend to lead a new concerted effort to change the law."
Winchester resident Maggie Carver, who is a Board Director at the BBFC, said: "These titles are getting more and more explicit and the producers are claiming exemption under the guise of being sport or music DVDs because they know they can avoid the age rating we offer at the BBFC which is trusted by parents and enforced by trading standards officers. We are a non-profit making body so the cost of getting an age certification is small, peanuts in the overall budget of these productions. I cannot believe it is the will of Parliament to let this situation carry on as it is so we are extremely grateful to Steve Brine and other MPs for picking this up."
Steve added: "This is an important loophole to close but the looming problem is the internet and I think Government needs to redouble its efforts with the industry and parents to protect our kids when they are online while being careful not to regulate the web in a way that would be unrealistic in a global marketplace or run counter to what makes it fun and dynamic."
Pictured; Steve joins Maggie Carver with a selection of the explicit DVDs
More information...
Find out more about BBFC at www.bbfc.co.uk.