The well-known Tory MP Boris Johnson has told Telegraph readers that it's time to "garotte the Game Boy and paralyse the PlayStation", pointing to falling literacy rates and slumping school standards.

The outspoken cult-figure let rip at the nation’s gamers, "Millions of 7- to 15-year-olds are hooked, especially boys". It is time, he believes, to, "just say no to Nintendo".

"It is about time, as a society, that we admitted the catastrophic effect these blasted gizmos are having on the literacy and the prospects of young males."

Government figures show that less children are reading and more students are arriving at university without adequate writing skills. He continued, "I refuse to believe that these hypnotic little machines are innocent".

Britain has the highest number of computer games per household in the EU, with 89% of UK households with children owning a console.

These figures concerning Johnson he went on to state, "These possessions are not so much an index of wealth as a cause of ignorance and underachievement and, yes, poverty".

>> Link - Official Site/Boris Johnson
>> Read - Parents urged to call time on console games