Hundreds of firefighters lobbied Parliament on 7 November to protest against huge cuts threatened to fire services across the UK.
Around 1,500 firefighter jobs have been cut over the last year and with central government grants getting slashed, local fire authorities are planning around 6,000 job cuts by 2015.
Leaked London Fire Brigade documents indicate that 600 jobs and 117 fire stations are under threat of closure in the capital alone, as the brigade seeks to make cuts of £65 million over two years. FBU general secretary Matt Wrack said: “The government is acting as if it has nothing to do with it”.
“It’s all down to the local fire service, but it’s the government that’s slashing budgets so fire authorities haven’t got what they need to provide the service the public deserve.
“That means stations will close, fire engines will be axed and firefighters’ jobs will go if planned cuts go ahead unchallenged.”
