In a new article published on his own website, Conservative MP Boris Johnson has described video games as 'narcotics for children', the Shadow Minister for Higher Education blaming games for a drop in reading levels among kids. He described consoles as 'hypnotic little machines'.

The Henley MP was quoted thusly by trade site MCV: "It is time to garrotte the Game Boy and paralyse the PlayStation… and [admit] the catastrophic effect these blasted gizmos are having on the literacy and the prospects of young males." He does concede that not all children fall prey to the evils of gaming... but is concerned for the millions that are.

Johnson explains the problem thusly: "Every child must have one, and what we fail to grasp is that these possessions are not so much an index of wealth as a cause of ignorance and underachievement and, yes, poverty. It hardly matters how much cash we pour into reading in schools if there is no culture of reading at home; and the consequences of this failure to read can be seen throughout the education system."

As a final rallying cry, Johnson urges parents to save their kids from a life of ignorance and illiteracy: "So I say now: stop just lying there in your post-Christmas state of crapulous indifference. Get up off the sofa. Can the DVD of Desperate Housewives, and go to where your children are sitting in auto-lobotomy in front of the console."

"Summon up all your strength, all your courage. Steel yourself for the screams and yank out that plug."

I hope this article was written in simple enough English for you, folks.

By Luke Guttridge