Slowly but surely, the wheels of dissent are beginning to turn in the UK. Earlier in the week, ELSPA’s former leader let rip a volley of disapproval at the BBFC for its unfair and potentially industry-damaging treatment of Manhunt 2. Now the good citizens of the misty island of castles and unicorns are following suit, with a petition set up on the Prime Minister’s official site calling for a revocation of the ban and the implementation of an 18 rating instead. You know, like sane, mature people would have done in the first place.
While internet petitions usually aren’t worth the paper they’re not written on, the fact that this one is hosted on an official government site makes it worth a go, as does the fact that Gordon Brown has only just moved into office. After years of bitter domestic wrangling and tearful, crockery-smashing fights with Tony Blair, he’s finally thrown the bitch out, and is now kicking back with a box of chocolates and I Will Survive on repeat, and making a big deal out of his vow that things are going to be different from now on.
While ol’ rubbery face’s claims of a more dialectic approach with the people of the UK obviously raise the cynicisometer needle just a tad, right now the guy’s aiming to impress as the antithesis of President Blair, and so he has to be seen to be listening. To that end, now is the time to throw your Christmas list at him while he’s suffering from the vulnerability inflicted by his own PR. UK residents have got until August the 25th to sign up, but should get to it right now.
And most importantly, don’t just leave the work to the petition. These things often fail because they’re seen as a single complaint despite the vast number of signatures on them, so follow up your e-signature with a real, paper and pen letter. A petition may get noticed, but a crammed letterbox full of tangible, individual letters to accompany said petition is going to be impossible to ignore, and doubly so if you send the same letter to your local MP as well. This is one situation in which spam is a good thing, so lets get typing and harrassing.
[Via GamePolitics.com]
