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"Deeply concerned" Vaz tables EDM for MW3, Watson reacts

He's back at it. Labour MP Keith Vaz has tabled an Early Day Motion on Modern Warfare 3 in Parliament. [Spoilers for MW3 after the break]

Vaz mentions in the EDM (via MCV), which was motioned six days after the game's release on November 14, that he was "deeply concerned" over the London Underground sequence, and that it brings up similar scenes to the terrorist attacks back in the city on July 7, 2005.

52 people were killed on that day.

Here's Vaz's EDM in full:

"That this House is deeply concerned about the recently released video game Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, in which players engage in gratuitous acts of violence against members of the public; notes in particular the harrowing scenes in which a London Underground train is bombed by terrorists, bearing a remarkable resemblance to the tragic events of 7 July 2005; further notes that there is increasing evidence of a link between perpetrators of violent crime and violent video games users; and calls on the British Board of Film Classification to take further precautions when allowing a game to be sold."

But fellow Labour MP, and pro videogames activist, Tom Watson has hit back, suggesting in an amendment that the BBFC gave the game "an 18 classification."

He added the shooter "neither draws upon nor resembles real terrorist attacks on the underground'; concluding by encouraging the BBFC should "uphold the opinion of the public that whilst the content of video games may be unsettling or upsetting to some, adults should be free to choose their own entertainment in the absence of legal issues or material which raises a risk or harm."

The full Early Day Motion, with Watson's full response and signatures added to date, can be found here.

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Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3

PS3, Xbox 360, Nintendo Wii, PC, Nintendo DS

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About the Author

Johnny Cullen

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Johnny has experience at a wide range of games media outlets, having written for Eurogamer, Play Magazine, PC Gamer, GameDaily, and more. He worked at VG247 pumping out news at an astonishing rate for several years. More recently, he founded the games website PlayDiaries.

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