From Cameron to Gazza, everyone loves Angry Birds

David Cameron is, it seems, a big fan of Angry Birds, which has also ensnared footballer Gazza, though we don't know if either of them has opted for the Eagle.

The Prime Ministerial news was tweeted by Andy Payne, chairman of the UK Interactive Entertainment Association, though Number 10 has yet to confirm that virtual pig squashing is the leisure option of choice for Mr. Cameron.

Gazza, on the other hand, reportedly bought an iPad specifically in order to be able to play the game - which fits given that it will also run on an iPhone, an N900 or any other Symbian^3.

The game, which is still in beta for Android, features the old favourite country pastime of catapulting birds at pigs in the hope of recovering stolen eggs - a parable for our times perhaps? The Eagle is a new feature, by which players can pay extra for a free pass to the level, the Eagle, thus opening up a whole new revenue stream for the developers.

Who might need it, now that the Prime Minister is doing it, mobile gaming obviously isn't cool any more. Like the day that Tony Blair wore jeans - suddenly everyone in denim looked a lot older.

Politicians have been caught out falsely claiming familiarity with the gestalt in the past - who really believed that Gordon Brown was an Arctic Monkeys fan - and Cameron has been accused of the same thing in this instance. But mobile games are so insidious it's probable that he is prone to flinging a bird or two.

In years gone by the corporate lackey, armed with power point slides, would address a room full of people scrolling though e-mail or tapping away on BlackBerrys. These days those people are equally likely to be playing games on their phones while ignoring the person speaking to them, though if that's better or worse is open to debate.

Either way, we're hoping the Prime Minister keeps his focus on the person speaking to him - it might be something important - but Gazza is welcome to tap away as much as he likes. ®