WELCOME to the silliest day of the year.

I don't want to be a grouch but I am sure there are many pet owners who dread November 5 because of the fear it instills in our pets.

We used to turn the TV up, speak in calm voices to each other and to him but nothing made a difference to the fear our cat felt - and how I agonised for him throughout bonfire night.

But that is not my real beef with November 5. My real complaint is why on earth do we commemorate Guy Fawkes' failed attempt to blow up Parliament in the Gunpowder Plot of 1605?

Fawkes was a member of a small group of militants whose only sin in the England of its time, was that they were Catholics.

I was brought up in Northern Rhodesia, which became Zambia. We were in Africa, for goodness sake, but every November 5, children would go around with their effigy of Guy Fawkes in a wheelbarrow asking for 'a penny for the guy.'

It was THE Guy - not any particular guy, which shows how much we knew about what we were doing.

I spent 30 years in New Zealand - as far to the other side of the world as you can get. And every November 5 we would let off fireworks and build a bonfire to commemorate a failed attempt to blow up Parliament on the other side of the world more than 300 years previously.

I haven't even started on the injuries caused by stupid use of fireworks or genuine accidents and fires and so on.

Fireworks can be fun and they can certainly be a spectacle but here are the rules I would like to see in place: Private sales of fireworks should be banned and only community displays allowed. They should be held at New Year,  a coronation or to celebrate an amazing event taking place in the now.

Our pets, fire service and A&E department will all thank you sincerely!