Online fireworks petition gains more than 305,000 signatures
The UK government has confirmed that MPs from across the House of Commons will soon meet to debate a petition, relating to the sale of fireworks in the UK, which has gained considerable support.
The debate will take place on Monday 2 November and will be led by Tonia Antoniazzi MP (Gower), a member of the petitions committee. The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy will send a minister to respond.
MPs will be debating e-petition 276425, which has received more than 305,000 signatures and calls for a ban on the general sale of fireworks to the public.
The petition states: “Every year more and more people, animals and wildlife get hurt by fireworks. It’s time something was [done] to stop this. There are enough organised firework groups around for us to still enjoy fireworks safely so please help me stop the needless sale of them to the public.”
“The noise from fireworks causes a great amount of fear, stress and anxiety in wild animals. Errant fireworks can also cause environmental damage though fires, and from the release of poisonous chemicals and particle-laden smoke, which is not just inhaled by wildlife, but contaminates the natural environment.”
The debate will be livestreamed online here and on the UK Parliament YouTube page. Both debate transcripts will be available here and you can follow the debate on Twitter with the hashtag #FireworksDebate.
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