Andrew Dismore

The Conservative candidate for Mayor Zac Goldsmith has a  manifesto 91 pages long: but nowhere in it does he make even the briefest mention of his intentions towards  the London Fire Brigade. The Conservative Assembly candidate for Barnet and Camden has had nothing to say either.

Is this because they are ashamed of what Boris Johnson’s cuts have done to the Fire Service and the safety of Londoners, especially here in Camden, which suffered the worst deterioration in attendance times of any borough as the result of their cuts and the loss of two of our fire stations?  Are they ashamed  of Boris Johnson’s decision to cut  yet another 13 fire engines and 188 firefighters this year, which he didn’t need to do? Are they ashamed of the fatal fire in Camden Road last Autumn  or  the destruction of a home less than a stone’s throw from the former Belsize fire station earlier  this year? Is it because they are ashamed that developers now plan to turn the Belsize fire station building  into a block of luxury flats, which will do nothing to meet  local housing need?

Or is it because they just don’t care about the Fire Brigade, just as they don’t care about any of our public services in their dash to cut and privatise; and they don’t want to come clean on schemes to make even more cuts to fire engines and firefighters.

Contrast the Conservatives’ silence  with that of Labour’s Sadiq Khan. His manifesto  promises a full review of the resources required by the London Fire Brigade, to ensure that it is fully equipped for the challenges ahead, not only for preventing and dealing with fires, but also for major civil contingencies such as a terrorist attack or flooding .

It is clear that only Labour really cares about the London Fire Brigade and Londoners safety. The Fire Brigade is  the emergency service we all hope we never need to call upon, but which we need desperately and urgently if we do!

Andrew Dismore AM

Labour London Assembly member and candidate for Barnet and Camden