The party's over for the public sale of fireworks

Calling time on what is essentially the open sale of explosives is surely worthy of proper examination, says John McLellan

Don’t smoke, don’t drink more than a bottle and a half of wine a week, don’t use so much salt, don’t drive a car, get rid of your gas boiler, don’t contaminate your recycling bin. The list is ever expanding.

I’m instinctively opposed to this “something must be done” ban culture, but sometimes there is a need, and the events of the last week are a good example.

From being a fun night marking the Gunpowder Plot, Bonfire Night has now become an excuse for a confrontation with police, and the targeting of public transport for reasons which are extremely hard to understand. Although police reported fewer incidents this week than last year, officers still came under attack.

In the cat and mouse game between police and organised lawlessness, and it takes an extraordinary amount of effort to disrupt plans for what is little short of insurrection, and the trouble is spreading beyond November 5.

A riot season in which Guy Fawkes is merely the climax seems to be emerging, and more police resources are needed over a longer period to keep a lid on extreme anti-social behaviour. It is true the trouble is more about the troublemakers than their chosen weaponry, the kind of argument used by the National Rifle Association in the USA to oppose gun controls.

But it’s undeniable that pyrotechnics make a significant contribution to the dangers faced by police officers, emergency workers, bus drivers and members of the public just trying to go about their normal business.

The British Fireworks Association (BFA), which represents manufactures and importers, is rightly keen to work closely with the authorities to prevent irresponsible use of their products.

But every year there is ample evidence to show current restrictions are ineffective.

Beyond windows at Bonfire Night, New Year, Chinese New Year and Diwali, firework sales are limited to specialist shops and to 5kg per adult, but there seems to be plenty to go around so the black market must be doing its job.

Not only do public service workers have fireworks aimed at them, but even without causing a riot there are those who just like setting off fireworks for the thrill of it at all times of the night.

We live next to a park and loud fireworks are regularly set off late at night, which then sets off the dogs.

The Scottish Conservatives this week called for harsher sentences to be imposed for fireworks offences, and that could form part of the response, but the kind of people who aim rockets at buses or throw bricks through police car windscreens are likely to wear a spell in chokey as a badge of honour, and will not re-emerge as upright members of society.

The BFA argues a ban would just encourage the black market, and it’s perfectly acceptable that it seeks to protect its members’ interests.

Properly organised and licensed displays are fine, in which the BFA has a role to play, but calling time on what is essentially the open sale of explosives is surely worthy of proper examination.