Archive for October, 2006

The frustrations of fireworks


Every year at this time pet owners and people of a nervous disposition are terrorised across the UK as the firework season kicks off.

Kids always somehow get their hands on fireworks even though they’re banned from buying them. They use and abuse these dangerous explosives for weeks before and after Guy Fawkes Night on 5 November, putting themselves at risk as well as other people and pets – sometimes deliberately and maliciously, but not always. Sometimes they just don’t know what they’re doing and have nobody around to either stop them, or explain the dangers. I call responsible advisers ‘parents’ and ‘guardians’ but many are increasingly absenting themselves from the front line and leaving discipline to teachers and the police.

My home town’s MP has put a bill forward in Parliament to see fireworks banned from sale to the public and only available at organised displays run by local authorities and community groups. I think this is long overdue but unlikely to be passed. I don’t know why it hasn’t been done before, or why such a popular measure is ever met with opposition by any MP.

Read the full article.

Thursday, October 26th, 2006