Copyright dailyrecord
John Swinney has been accused of "abandoning" a Scottish Government-backed clampdown on the illegal use of fireworks just days before some communities face a Bonfire Night "war zone". The SNP has ditched a planned licensing regime which would have meant Scots needed a permit to buy the pyrotechnics, with the First Minister blaming the cost. Swinney described the system as having been "paused" and claimed other elements of the Fireworks and Pyrotechnic Articles (Scotland) Act 2022 had already been introduced. The SNP Government will also not take forward proposals to restrict which days of the year fireworks can be bought. Ash Regan, who now sits as an independent after quitting Alba, blasted Swinney for watering down the 2022 law. She told MSPs: "This Parliament passed that law to protect both the public and our emergency services over three years ago, and four Bonfire Nights since this law was enacted constituents and emergency services that I worked with to bring this law remain at their wits end. "With respect to the First Minister, I say that firework control zones do not work without control on purchasing as well." Regan continued: "For those communities on the front line, mine is one of them, this has become an annual Bonfire Night war zone in constituencies across Scotland and I think they deserve for Scotland to use all the powers that we have available to us to help them. "These communities are now bracing for impact. Firefighters, police and paramedics are continuously putting themselves in harm’s way to protect the public and they deserve more than warm words, they deserve the delivery of the law." Asked why his Government had abandoned parts of the law, Swinney said: "The majority of the Act has been implemented, including support for local authorities to implement firework control zones to tackle hotspots where disorder has been experienced. "We’ve also introduced new offences for providing fireworks or pyrotechnics to children and using fireworks to attack emergency workers. "The licensing system has been paused due to the cost of introducing it at present, but that will be kept under review. "Anyone taking part in illegal activity or disorder can expect a robust response from Police Scotland, as demonstrated by the recent major seizures of fireworks." To sign up to the Daily R ecord Politics newsletter, click here
