Andrew Dismore

Labour London Assembly and Fire Authority Member Andrew Dismore has resigned as chair of the Fire Authority Resources Committee in protest at the Mayor’s imposition of his unnecessary cuts of 13 fire engines.

Mr Dismore said:

‘Working within the Mayor’s financial envelope, I spent a lot of time and effort with Fire Brigade officers over many months developing a budget for the Fire Brigade that both balanced the books and ensured no loss of front line fire engines. This set of proposals won huge support from Londoners in the public consultation in January: 70% backed my plans and rejected the Mayor’s scheme to cut unnecessarily 13 fire engines.

‘In his typically most dictatorial and undemocratic way, the Mayor has now seen fit to issue his edict to overrule the budget plan I prepared and which was approved by the people of London and Fire Authority. The Mayor’s direction was accepted last night by the Authority’s Urgency Committee on that Committee’s Conservative members and Conservative Chair’s casting vote supporting their Conservative Mayor’s cuts, as the Lib Dem and Green members failed to show up to vote against it with the Labour members who did, so we are now stuck with the loss of so many fire engines and firefighters.

‘I am not prepared to preside over the implementation of such a budget as the Mayor’s, which will be so damaging to the London Fire Brigade and the safety of Londoners, with his axing of 13 fire engines and the loss of 188 firefighters’ jobs, cuts we do not have to make to balance the books even under the Mayor’s stringent demands for savings.

‘He has made his decision. I have made mine. Let him and his Conservative cronies on the Fire Authority get on with implementing his Conservative cuts to our emergency services and let the people of London decide in the ballot box next May as to who has the best interests as to their safety really at heart.’