Never let it be said that Parliament is not concerned with the big issues: Gordon Banks (the MP, not the goalie) has a debate today in Westminster Hall at 4pm entitled "Looped cords on window blinds". A real must see event.
Coming next: A debate on the dangers of wooden clothes pegs.
UPDATE: Apparently the debate comes as a result of THIS tragic story, so a correspondent tells me. It is indeed a very sad tale, but does one tragic case imply that these things should be banned? If we go down that road there are very many things which the State could deem dangerous. Accidents will always happen no matter what precautions are taken. The difficulty is where to draw the line.
20 comments:
Actually these things are the bane of my life. They never work properly. Jam, pull the blind down on your head etc.
If MPs sort this out they will get my appreciation. Much more practical than the usual law-making they get up to - finding new ways to tax and suppress us.
They're quite dangerous, actually, if you're a child just learning to walk. It's easy for a kid to stumble and choke themselves to death.
There's a story about it here: http://news.scotsman.com/latestnews/Grieving-father-demands-UK-ban.3770627.jp
A brief debate in Westminster Hall to highlight an issue (hey, that's what it's there for) that might save some lives seems worth it to me.
Btw, looped cords are banned in the USA and have been for about ten years.
Tragic story.
Can they not simply make the loop shorter i.e. higher up and out of the reach of a small child?
Iain
You do not have children. These chords are lethal as are curtain tie backs and bathroom pull chord light switches. Whenever I rent a property I remove them to stop my kids touching them. They should be banned.
The Government should change its name from Her Majesty's Government to Nanny. At least then we'd know where we are.
...such as the Wakefield MP trying to introduce a ban on hot water in baths!!
She wants there to be a state imposed limit on the heat of the water after a similarly terrible incident of a toddler scalding herself.
Personally, that does not top the terminally boring Jamie Stone MSP's Scottish Parliamentary debate on 'dust mites'. Yep, dust mites. Liberal Democrats with 'the finger on the pulse of the people' yet again....
"Tony Hannon said...
Tragic story.
Can they not simply make the loop shorter i.e. higher up and out of the reach of a small child?"
Tony, could THEY (i mean THEY, the parents) not tie them up and take some responsibility for the saftey of their children as I do?
Ah these pesky H&S fanatics eh? Next they'll be stopping us sending children up chimneys. Nanny state gorn mad, I chopped my head off when I was young but it never did me any harm etc. etc.
When will somebody at the top of Government just turn round and admit that accidents happen and change the legislation so that people don't make money out of the consequences of accidents?
anonymous @10.33am
My suggestion was an alternative to banning them (Dave above me mentioned a ban in the States).
Of course - parents should take responsibility for their children's safety. I didn't realise danger lurked behind the curtains - perhaps some parents didn't either.
You did...so...well done you.
We should ban windows too; children might fall out of them.
And cars; they might fall under them. Gates; they might fall over them.
How about parents supervising their children properly? It's bad enough having to pay towards their upkeep through our taxes.
You're all missing the point. MPs for Scottish constituencies have b****r all to do, what with most matters of importance to their constituents being devolved to the Scottish Parliament.
So they have to do anything to get their name in local papers.
While the Commons authorities are "reforming" salaries and expenses, why don't they recognise that these MPs have far fewer duties (apart from Labour MPs sticking their noses in English-only matters), and CUT their salaries?
Anon 10.11
"They should be banned."
Pathetic.
Just watched a BBC doc on the subject of "Chimps are people too."
I came to the conclusion that its no so much that the BBC was trying to imply that Chimps are like us.
It was seriously trying to assert that the producers believed that we are more like Chimps.
( In spite of the propaganda, after watching it I came to the conclusion that we are in reality virtually nothing like Chimps at all. The question that the BBC never asks is WHY we are NOT like chimps when according to science we SHOULD still be swinging in the trees ourselves.)
Not of cause the producers of the program who are as we all know believe they are vastly superior to the gods themselves.
Our government does not believe it is our nanny's, it has gone way past that stage.
They believe they are our ZOO KEEPERS. At this rate they will soon become our Farm managers as well, if they are not already.
Atlas shrugged and then recalled that this sort of thing used to be his mates job, and that he will not be happy, not happy at all.
I'm with Iain on this one, and yes I do have kids. The danger of a loop on a blind, at or below the level of a toddler's head, should not be hard to see. Sometimes we as individuals have to take responsibility for the well being or ourselves or for those in our care. We cannot continually expect legislation to safeguard us against every conceivable danger. Or if we do, we cannot complain when the power of the State becomes all encompassing.
Let's just see what Banks has to say on the subject before rushing to judgment, eh?
So the H & S Polizei have yet another area to police. They will not be satisfied until the whole of human existence is circumscribed by their pathetic legislation.
Given the spate of people being kicked and stamped to death by gangs of feral teens, shouldn't feet be banned or licenced? Alternatively, make hoodies wear carpet slippers (ideally monogrammed to assist identifacation).
This is one of those stories that makes me lose patience.
Dave Cole says:
"They're quite dangerous, actually, if you're a child just learning to walk. It's easy for a kid to stumble and choke themselves to death."
Anonymous
"They should be banned."
Guido - You should be ashamed of yourself. I thought you were a libertarian.
I don't have children but I've had dogs. The first thing, literally the first thing, I did when I moved into a place with these cords was to loop them up well out of reach. I didn't want to come home to a garotted pooch.
I didn't need a warning label I certainly didn't need legislation. As a caring dog owner I didn't leave sharp items or harmful substances anywhere a dog could get at them.
Yet I go into the homes of people with small children & often they're like a minefield. Power cables all over the floor. Matches left on low tables next to delicate glassware. Bottles of bleach on the floor next to the toilet.
What's wrong with you people? It's not the government's problem. It's your problem. The rest of us don't want to have to live in a kindergarten just because you've got kids. I'd go further. Let's have less safety regs. Then perhaps you'll assist in editing your offspring out of the gene pool
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