Cartoon by John Sadler

• HERE we go again! It’s that time of year of big bangs and flashes that terrify many of our pets, and no doubt wild animals too.

And all that is before we count the cost of injuries to humans, most of them young, some of them scarred for life.

And for what? Most of us are greatly underwhelmed by the pitiful pyrotechnics.

Can’t we confine this tedious firework nonsense to certain open spaces and leave the rest of us in peace?

EF WILSON
NW1