So common sense, or rather legal sense, has prevailed. Manhunt 2, after being restricted and restricted again is now finally able to be purchased as an 18+ game as it should always have been. The BBFC tried to step above it's station with this one, as they have with other games and films in the past, and to try and restrict adults from being able to get the game because of rather weak arguments about children still being able to get hold of them. As it's been widely criticised for, it's not really the BBFC's position to state that parents and people are so shit at self censorship that they are allowed to become overlords of entertainment where they decide what is and isn't good for us. That doesn't stop them sounding particularly peeved at this fact though...

Quick note also, click the link below to continue reading my thoughts, but I am now off for a weekend break and haven't had time, unfortunately, to write up some articles to be published over the weekend. I'll be back with Politalks some time on Tuesday and hopefully some more on the inside of the budget report.

With it being talked about in the commons it is of course to be expected that video games and the massive corrupting influence they supposedly have on us all would start to be talked about more over the next few weeks and months, unfortunately it is a Liberal Democrat that appears to be the first to miss the point. It's not that I necessarily disagree with Andy's main sentiments that completely putting video games under the purview of the BBFC is necessarily a step in the wrong direction, but I can't actually see any evidence that it is a step in any direction at all.

Here we are again with views and comments on the weekly question time, this time with at least the feeling of more questions. We had Nick Clegg coming out more aggressively this week and a fairly consistent repeat of last weeks bout between Brown and Cameron, this time over Northern Rock. The surprise is that there were seemingly more planted questions than usual from the Labour side, and issues such as violence in gaming and Darfur. The big theme of the day, however, was inconsistency and "flip flopping", though that term was never used.

On the topical side, Brown also clarified the new Organ Donation policy, and made it clear we'd be following a system like the tried and tested Spanish approach that allows families to have a veto organ donations to make sure patient wishes are followed as close as possible.

Just a quick one, again from pointed out by Scepticisle. The BBFC have had their ruling on the game Manhunt 2 overturned!

This issue was much greater than a game that was given a distinctly average rating, it was much more important to the core issue of liberties in this country, the hypocrisy of the BBFC as a regulatory body, and the influence of the god squad on personal choices in every day lives. I am not at all going to believe this will be the end of the issue as, like the television series "24", it will never ever die, but it is a great result for the time being.

By and large the subject is covered much better than I will be able to cover it by Scepticisle on his own blog, however I simply have to air as it is my right to do so about how much I feel that the original decision by the BBFC was outrageous.