§ 10. Mr. Gwilym Robertsasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on his recent meeting with groups interested in firework accidents; and if he will now introduce legislation to reduce the number of accidents due to fireworks.
§ Mr. Merlyn ReesI would refer my hon. Friend to the reply which my right hon. Friend gave to a Question by my hon. Friend the Member for Kingston-upon-Hull, West (Mr. James Johnson) on 9th April.—[Vol. 799, c. 109–10.]
§ Mr. RobertsWould my hon. Friend accept that while we all welcome any provision aimed at curbing firework accidents, many of us fear that the effect of raising the age in this respect will be minimal and that what matters is not who buys the fireworks, but who uses them? Will he accept the view of a large section of the public that, unless we have a much more rigid curb on the sale of fireworks to the general public, we will have many more firework accidents? Our fear is that thousands of accidents will occur before this type of legislation can be brought in.
§ Mr. ReesThe number of accidents fell rapidly last year. The age which at the moment is 13 is to be found in the 1555 1875 Act and this ignores many social changes which have happened since that time. This is a desirable change to make and we believe that it will have an effect on the number of accidents.
§ Mr. St. John-StevasWould the hon. Gentleman agree that even today some responsibility should be left to individuals and that the solution is not a ban on fireworks but a stringent enforcement of existing safeguards?
§ Mr. ReesI agree with the hon. Gentleman and I hope that many local authorities will see fit to run communal firework displays which I am sure would have an effect.