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Fireworks and Pyrotechnic Articles (Scotland) Bill means the end of back garden fireworks in Scotland

Despite the claim by the Scottish government that the passing of the Fireworks and Pyrotechnic Articles (Scotland) Bill will ‘ensure safety for people across Scotland’, it will mean greater danger, with illegal firework trade set to increase. It virtually means the end of back garden fireworks in Scotland.

It introduces a licensing system which will apply to any number of fireworks bought. So, you cannot buy a small box of shop fireworks without possessing a license (the acquisition of which requires mandatory ‘training’)

Further restricting purchase and use are the powers granted to local authorities to designate firework control zones, restrictions on the supply and use of fireworks’

‘This is not,’ Community Safety Minister Ash Regan said, ‘a ban on fireworks. We still want people to enjoy them safely, for example attending organised displays.’

So, to buy some tiny fireworks to entertain the children or grandchidren, it is necessary to train to acquire, to buy, a licence. If the Scottish government does not believe this is a preventative measure, it is fooling itself. But it is not fooling itself, this is a back door ban.

The claim that organised firework displays will still go ahead is not the whole story. There are restrictions on these too – and will church, club and scouts’ groups be able to purchase fireworks for a firework party?

Fireworks issue 82 will consider the act in great detail. Our friends in Scotland should contact us, since one of their cherished freedoms has been eroded.