Meeting of the Parliament (Hybrid) 29 June 2022
I thank the Criminal Justice Committee, the clerks and all those who gave evidence for their work on the bill.
In 2019, my colleague Liam McArthur called for powers to allow councils to make decisions around the use of fireworks and how they affect the local community. I am glad to say that we find elements of that in the bill.
It has been clear for a long time that something needs to be done to regulate the use of fireworks and limit their misuse. Sadly, every year, the police are called to address disturbances, with groups of people hurling fireworks and projectiles at emergency workers and private individuals. One year in Edinburgh, a police officer was badly burned and hospitalised after a firework was thrown in her face. Emergency workers do not deserve to be treated like that; they should be able to go about their duties without fear of physical violence. It comes as no surprise that the bill has been welcomed by the fire and police services.
As a liberal, I am instinctively wary of the state reaching further into our daily lives to impose any kind of control or stricture around a tradition that has been going on for centuries, which many people consider to be part of our heritage, especially when the vast majority of people who use fireworks do so in a responsible way. However, when we are witnessing the same sort of antisocial behaviour involving fireworks year in, year out, when a local police sergeant ends up in the burns unit, when people feel threatened in their own homes, as well as out in the streets, and when animals are scared witless because of a warped distortion of those traditions, we have to say that enough is enough. It is right that we take proportionate action to reduce the likelihood that those sorts of instances will occur. The passing of the Fireworks and Pyrotechnic Articles (Scotland) Bill will help to resolve the situation in some way.
It is important to note the growing problem of the use of pyrotechnics at sporting events, often in the middle of large crowds of people. Someone attending a football match with their children should be able to do so safe in the knowledge that a flare will not suddenly be lit right beside them.
I listened to the contributions of Jamie Greene and other members who are concerned about whether the bill goes far enough; it may not do so. Pauline McNeill was absolutely right to take a balanced approach, as did Jamie Greene. There is no doubt that we could have gone further with the bill. Pauline McNeill said that we need to send a message to people who misuse fireworks, and she is right that we need to send them a message, but laws cannot be used to send messages; we need to make a real difference.
That is why I urge the minister to consider post-legislative scrutiny of the bill as enacted. We need to make sure that we have made the right decisions and that we can review the measures and introduce new ones if more measures are required. I hope that the minister will respond to that request in her closing remarks.
I am conscious that, to some people, we in this Parliament might sound like a bunch of curmudgeons who are part of the fun police. However, the bill is not about limiting fun; it is about making sure that, instead of some people misusing our traditions and misusing fireworks as weapons, everyone can have fun.
I encourage all members to vote for the bill, but to come back to the chamber at a later date to carry out proper post-legislative scrutiny to ensure that we can improve the bill as enacted, if necessary, and have the correct laws for our country.