I was appalled to learn, from BBC's Watchdog programme, that children's fancy dress costumes are classified as toys, not clothes, and as a result, do not have to conform to the higher fire-safety standards that clothes do.
Claudia Winkelman described how her daughter caught fire, wearing a Halloween costume, and how she suffered severe burns as a result - it was heartbreaking to hear her describe her daughter on fire, and her and another parent trying to beat the flames out with their bare hands.
I am old enough to remember one of the TV consumer programmes campaigning to make children's nightclothes safer, because they used not to be fire-safe, and children were being severely injured when their pyjamas or nighties caught fire - and I thought we had moved on, but I was wrong.
If fancy dress costumes were classified as clothes, they would have to have three times more stringent fire safety standards than toys (ie. they have to burn three times more slowly than a toy) - and surely this is only logical - if a toy catches fire, a child can put it down - if clothing catches fire, it doesn't matter if it is play clothing or ordinary clothing, the child can't get away from it/throw it away - it is burning all around them - and may be melting and sticking to them.
Watchdog are starting a campaign to get fancy dress costumes reclassified as clothing, so they have to conform to the higher standards - and I think MN should support this.