Crackers is as Crackers does

Under 16 year olds are banned from buying Christmas Crackers by EU regulations.

Sounds like a Euro myth doesn't it. The sort that flary nostrilled UKIP types would make up to scare granies as they sip their old mellow British cream sherry.

So lets look at the advice sent out by the Govt department,

The Regulations

The Pyrotechnic Articles (Safety) Regulations 2010 are regulations which transpose into UK law European Directive 2007/23 on the placing on the market of pyrotechnic articles. In UK legislation the Regulations primarily replace the Fireworks (Safety) Regulations 1997 but have wider product coverage and cover the whole of the UK. There is a transition period until 3 July 2017 for products that comply with the existing legal requirements.

All terribly sensible no doubt, so what about those kiddies with Christmas Crackers?

The minimum age limit for supply of category 1 fireworks is 16 years (see regulation 15(2)). Christmas crackers fall within category 1, among other low hazard, low noise fireworks.

You will be relieved to note however,

The Regulations do not however apply to toy percussion caps for toy guns etc.

Which is fortunate because as well all know, these days after the age of about 12 children now buy real guns on the black market and blow each other away.

Anyhow I just note the response of Godfrey Bloom MEP to this,

"Year after year children are severely wounded by indiscriminate pulling of Christmas crackers" said Godfrey Bloom MEP today. "That is absurd of course, but seems to be the thinking behind the application of a European Directive."

The regulation, The Pyrotechnic Articles (Safety) Regulations 2010 transpose into UK law European Directive 2007/23 on the placing on the market of pyrotechnic articles.

"What this means in practice is that retailers have to demand ID from customers wanting to buy crackers and nobody under the age of 16 will be able to buy crackers. The British Retail Consortium (BRC) describes the rules as 'particularly daft', said Bloom.

"They are too kind. The rules are ruddy stupid.

"They seem to assume that everybody is an idiot, that nobody is safe and that every 10-year-old is a budding Guy Fawkes hoarding Christmas crackers in an attempt to blow up the House of Commons in an apocalyptic cataclysm of bad jokes and paper hats.

"I wish it were true but, sadly, this is just another example of the moronic British application of nannying EU rules.

"They will not rest until each of us is a dribbling incompetent, incapable of deciding what is and what isn't in our own interest.

"Here's an idea. Trust people to make decisions based on facts as they are presented, rather than employ armies of busybodies to check on the activities of innocent children and storekeepers," said Bloom.

Quite so, Godders, quite so.