Fireworks Debate
Full Debate: Read Full DebateDepartment: Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
Tonia Antoniazzi
Main Page: Tonia Antoniazzi (Labour - Gower)Department Debates - View all Tonia Antoniazzi's debates with the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
(6 years, 2 months ago)
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Susan Elan Jones
I agree with the right hon. Lady. For those of us who represent rural or semi-rural seats, that is a particular issue.
Tonia Antoniazzi (Gower) (Lab)
I noted my hon. Friend’s words, including about spontaneous gatherings. Following on from talk of horses, for five years, my constituent Fiona Hohmann owned a horse, Solo, which died on the night of the fireworks. The vet informed her that the horse had twisted his gut in the panic caused by the noise and distress. Given the unnecessary distress and pain to all animals, we should limit the private use of fireworks and, as the right hon. Member for Meriden (Dame Caroline Spelman) said, not just the when but the where.
Susan Elan Jones
My hon. Friend from Wales makes a strong case.
I mentioned earlier the 5,700-plus comments reflecting different views on the Facebook page. I cannot talk about all of them but I will quote one: Facebook user Stephanie Daisy shared a moving video about her daughter, Maisie, who suffered serious injuries after a small home firework display went wrong on 5 November 2016. A stray flare became stuck in her scarf before exploding. She suffered full thickness burns to her head, neck and shoulders, and had five separate operations. In response to the post on Facebook, Stephanie said:
“My thoughts are, and always will be, that fireworks can be devastatingly dangerous even when used safely and as such should only be allowed at organised displays”.
Stephanie is not alone in her views. In fact, many others seem to share them, including veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder.
For such veterans, fireworks can be an unwelcome trigger for upsetting and frightening memories of conflict. The veterans’ charity, Shoulder to Soldier, runs a campaign to raise awareness of the negative effect that random fireworks can have on veterans who live with PTSD. That can be a particular problem nowadays as we do not only “Remember, remember the fifth of November”, but scores of other days throughout the year, with much random letting off of fireworks.