Tony Blair, has threatened to send troops over Fire Brigade picket lines in order to make use of modern fire appliances. He is also threatening to take legal action because the strike claimed three lives in its first night. Is this the firm resolve of an exemplary politician or yet another example of implacable bully-boy tactics (think Foot and Mouth crisis with millions of healthy animals illegally destroyed)?
Blair has been accused of being a control freak who spins to win; possessing bags of style but zero substance. His critics are scathing, his leadership considered controversial and inept. Is this a fair picture of the man who would be king?
Why has Bleugghh suddenly got the jitters over three people dead in three separate fires? Would those people have survived if the blazes had been tackled by regular fire fighters? The answer is…possibly. In at least one of the cases firemen broke their own picket line and went into action but sadly, all three elderly victims died of smoke inhalation.
Bleugghh and his bloated toad of a cohort, John Prescott, blame the deaths on the strikers. The firemen should not have gone ahead with the strike after a “staggering” 11% salary increase over two years had been put on the table. But they did. Why?
The Fire Brigade Union (FBU) were in the process of negotiating a favourable pay deal with their employers until the government stepped in and interfered. This is the same government who recently voted itself a massive, inflation busting pay increase and more favourable hours. The FBU believes its members are equally worthy of a decent pay increase. Are they worth it? You bet!
Bleugghh’s heavy handed tactics caused this strike. The deaths are on his conscience which is perhaps why he is squealing so loudly now. He decries the ineffectiveness of the ancient “Green Goddess” fire engines to cope in modern day Britain. They were hideously outdated in 1977. It is scandalous that they have never been scrapped and replaced with more suitable vehicles. The continued existence of the GGs is ultimately down to the government. Bleugghh is in charge of the present government!
My sympathies remain with the fire fighters. Despite the smear campaign (they only work a cushy four day, forty-two hour week doncha know, with four days off in between so they can work elsewhere), the strike is supported by the majority of civilians. So what if they spend a lot of time eating, resting and polishing their appliances? When the call comes they are there, putting their lives on the line. And occasionally dying.
Who would you call if your house was on fire? The Fire Brigade? Or some grasping, control freak who would enforce martial law at the drop of a hat when people uphold their democratic right to protest unfair treatment?
Not even Thatcher went that far.