PENISTONE and Stocksbridge MP Miriam Cates has continued her campaign for tougher age ratings for cinema and television releases.

Mrs Cates attended the launch of the BBFC’s new film classification guidelines to hear about the work they’re doing to keep audiences informed and protected.

She has called for tougher measures to be introduced to ‘protect’ children and youngsters from the material they are watching online.

She said: “The BBFC is a fantastic organisation responsible for applying age ratings to all cinema, DVD and video releases in the UK.

“Their ratings play a key role in preventing children from seeing age-inappropriate content and are almost universally understood and trusted.

“This is because each set of guidelines they produce is informed by consultation with over 10,000 members of the public from across the UK.

“However, as viewing habits have changed with the arrival of online streaming services such as Netflix and Disney+, our laws haven’t kept up.

“That’s why I’m working in Parliament to change the law and require streaming platforms to use BBFC age ratings or equivalent.

“This would help parents to choose appropriate shows for their children and take a consistent approach to audience protection.”