Andrew Dismore

Dear editor,

The Mayor’s direction to the Fire Authority (LFEPA) about locking out firefighters during the current national dispute over pensions shows just how wrong it would be, if Boris Johnson gets the unfettered control of the Fire Brigade he is currently asking the Government to give him, through gerrymandering the membership of LFEPA by packing it with his cronies and ‘yes men’.

ThIs crazy lock out idea has been discussed by LFEPA on many occasions and rejected each time, as it jeopardises public safety: surely it is obvious that it is better to have firefighters on duty for most of their shift, rather than lock them out for the whole shift and then only rely on the skeleton alternative service the brigade otherwise runs, and which has fallen short on several occasions since the strike began.

Even when on strike, the FBU has agreed that in the event of a major emergency they would return to work to deal with it. If the Mayor escalates this dispute by locking out the firefighters for the rest of their shift, then that extra fall back cover would be withdrawn as the union has made clear.

When other fire authorities have tried to go down the Mayor’s route, they had to reconsider and reverse their decision due to the impracticability and risks of the consequences.

And only London’s Mayor, schooled in the Brian Coleman style of fire service industrial relations, could pour petrol on the fire of the dispute, when the newly appointed fire minister and the FBU have signalled a conciliatory approach in a renewed effort to solve the underlying issues about firefighters’  pensions.

Andrew Dismore

London Assembly member for Barnet and Camden and LFEPA member

City Hall

London SE1 2AA

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