Let’s not panic

The call by Tory MP Robert Halfon to ban bouncy castles after the tragic death of a child in Norfolk encapsulates the ludicrous reactionary nature of British politicians to any headline which has left them incapable of dealing with more complex issues such as post-brexit Britain.

Bouncy castles and other recreational inflatable structures have been around decades before pop group XTC used one for the video of Generals And Majors in 1980, or Spinal Tap’s deliberately faulty inflatable Stonehenge in 2009. To decide that they are now any more dangerous than they have been in their six decades of public enjoyment is nannyism at its worst.

In the early 1960s there were attempts to ban pogo sticks with much the same justifications for today’s health and safety cult cottonwool kids.

However, Enoch Powell, with two young daughters of his own, knew acceptable risk has long been the price for fun, and so in his capacity as Health Minister demonstrated the correct use of the pogo stick to a bemused media on 23 January 1962 in Belgravia (captured for posterity in a photograph), bouncing the killjoys into touch.

MARK BOYLE Linn Park Gardens Johnstone, Renfrewshire