Fireworks

Holly Lynch Excerpts

Monday 29th January 2018 Westminster Hall

[Holly Lynch (Halifax) (Lab)]

May I say what a pleasure it is that you have joined us and taken over in the Chair this afternoon, Mr Hanson? I also join hon. Members in thanking my hon. Friend the Member for Clwyd South (Susan Elan Jones) for opening this important debate with a characteristically insightful and balanced speech on behalf of the Petitions Committee.

Much like my hon. Friend and colleagues across these Benches, I want to stress that I have fond memories of growing up and spending time with my family setting off fireworks in the back garden over the course of bonfire night. So it is with great sadness that the instances of irresponsible, antisocial and at times dangerous misuse of fireworks have brought me here today to call for much tighter regulation around the sale and use of fireworks.

There has been a long-running problem with fireworks being used at all times of the day and night in my constituency and causing tensions within communities, as I will return to later in my speech. However, as predicted by my hon. Friend, my greatest cause for concern is the way in which fireworks were used to attack the emergency services over bonfire weekend. I saw that for myself when I went out with West Yorkshire fire and rescue and West Yorkshire police on Saturday 4 November last year. Both myself and my hon. Friend the Member for Bradford South (Judith Cummins), who wanted to be here for this debate but is otherwise detained owing to her responsibilities on the Trade Bill, spent time with the emergency services on the frontline in Bradford.

Several crews working out of fire appliances and fire cars as part of the joint fire and police operation across West Yorkshire that night were subject to attacks involving fireworks. The crew of one of the fire appliances based at the station I was attached to had fireworks aimed at them that exploded just inches away from their faces and where they were working. The fire car in which my hon. Friend was shadowing officers and firefighters also had missiles and fireworks thrown at it.

I launched the “Protect the Protectors” campaign, which I am pleased to say the Government are supporting, having seen and heard too many harrowing incidents of emergency service workers coming under attack. Yet even I was surprised to learn that every instance of fire resources being deployed to calls over that bonfire weekend in Bradford had police officers co-deployed alongside them, as the risk of fire crews being attacked was so high.

We had anticipated that the Saturday night would be the busiest of the weekend; however, bonfire night on the Sunday evening proved to be worse. There were 18 attacks on fire crews over the bonfire weekend in West Yorkshire alone, with the vast majority involving fireworks. That was twice as many as the year before. So we know that the current rules and regulations simply are not effective, as the situation has deteriorated.

In Leeds, gangs barricaded streets in Harehills and Hyde Park, setting fire to bins and anything else they could find. When the emergency services arrived to put out the fires, they were met with fireworks fired at them. Youths were putting fireworks in drain pipes, which they used as rocket launchers to aim and fire at firefighters and police officers. Those incidents were deliberately orchestrated to lure emergency service workers into an area in order to be attacked, with the weapon of choice being fireworks, which made the attacks particularly sinister. In those instances, the police were left with no choice but to wear full protective equipment, including shields and helmets, in order to secure the area so that fire crews could tackle the blazes.

Chief Superintendent Mabs Hussain of West Yorkshire police hit the nail on the head when he was quoted in The Yorkshire Post as saying:

“Over the weekend, we had reports of fireworks being directed at moving vehicles, properties and emergency service crews…Many of the people doing this wouldn’t arm themselves with a knife or a gun, but don’t realise that using a firework as a weapon isn’t mischievous, it is highly dangerous.”

He was exactly right.

While I sincerely hope that the “Protect the Protectors” Bill being championed through Parliament as a private Member’s Bill by my hon. Friend the Member for Rhondda (Chris Bryant) will make a difference by being a tough deterrent against such attacks, I hope that when considering the merits of further restrictions the Minister will reflect on the role of fireworks as a deliberate weapon of choice used by certain individuals specifically to attack emergency service workers at seasonal times of the year.

In Halifax, we have increasingly seen fireworks used as a means of celebrating weddings, making them a year-round occurrence. The geography of the area worsens the problem, as loud explosions echo around the valleys. Last summer, one single explosion at 1 am woke residents up to 4 miles away. I can confirm that, as I was one of those residents woken around 4 miles away from the source of the initial firework. It was not until the following morning, having returned to my office to see many emails in my inbox giving me an indication of the epicentre of the activity, that I realised the noise had travelled so far.

I wish that was an isolated incident; however, I regularly receive emails from tired and frustrated constituents on this issue. Those demonstrate that literally thousands of people are being affected, often in the middle of the night, by the actions of a few individuals, whose purpose for using fireworks is specifically to let everyone know that their fireworks are bigger and louder than everybody else’s.

One constituent contacted me last April to say that fireworks had started just past midnight on a Sunday night and continued non-stop until 2.30 am. The fireworks were not part of a seasonal celebration, and that highlights how, for many people, this is now a year-round problem. The constituent was rightly concerned about the impact of the sleepless nights on people’s health. During the same incident last year, residents took to Facebook in the early hours to express their frustrations. One resident who lived close to where the fireworks were being set off commented:

“Me and my son were up till 2am, he was so scared, we slept on the living room floor.”

I have been trying to find a resolution to this problem and have been in regular contact with the local police and the council’s environmental health department. It is clear that because of the nature of fireworks, it is difficult to take enforcement action after the event, when the evidence will literally have gone up in smoke in seconds. So I hope that the Minister will reflect on all the ways in which we can close down the irresponsible and antisocial use of fireworks at the point of sale.

If I may, I will highlight some points in relation to the Government’s response to the petition. As we have heard from other hon. Members, the current limit of 120 dB is still quite high. By some estimates, that is comparable to a rock band, a police siren or, as we have heard, a chainsaw or jet engine. The RSPCA believes that the maximum noise level should be reduced to 96 dB, and has raised concerns about the impact of such loud noises on animals. As we have heard, there are reports of horses dying from the shock of sudden explosions, so there are strong animal welfare arguments for reconsidering decibel limits, as others have said, including my hon. Friend the Member for Gower (Tonia Antoniazzi).

The Government’s proposed solution for tackling the emotional distress caused by fireworks is problematic. The Department says:

“The Government is aware of concerns about the distress noisy fireworks can cause…Therefore, the Government urges those using fireworks to be considerate to their neighbours and give sufficient notice…to those who are vulnerable”.

The list includes

“older people, children, those with mental health issues such as post-traumatic stress disorder”.

I am glad that Ministers acknowledge that those with PTSD, for example, can be distressed by fireworks, but if they really think that people setting off explosions at 1 am that carry for four miles will be diligent enough to notify an entire constituency in advance, I am afraid that I do not share their optimism.

I started this speech by reliving my own fond memories of fireworks as a child; we all remember the odd mix of horror and excitement on realising that a firework had leaned precariously in our direction, leaving everyone rushing to get inside to watch that particular firework from the safety of the kitchen window. This is not about being anti-fireworks—the display by the Thames at new year was absolutely spectacular, as was the bonfire and display organised by West Yorkshire fire and rescue at its Birkenshaw headquarters—but about proper regulation. It is about ensuring that fireworks are not used in the middle of the night in residential areas, it is about ensuring that the noise does not carry for four miles and it is certainly about ensuring that fireworks are not put in drainpipes and fired at emergency service workers. The existing laws are not preventing any of those things, so I hope that the Minister might take this opportunity to reflect on what changes to those laws might bring about the changes in behaviour that we would all like to see.